Planning for the Future
by raspberry dreams
Summary: This is the sequel to "A Change in Plans" and will make more sense if you read that first. Being married while still in high school isn't always easy and as they plan for their future Troy and Gabriella find that marriage doesn't make them immune from normal teenage insecurities and misunderstandings.
1. Chapter 1

Planning for the Future

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: This is the sequel to "A Change in Plans" and is set about three months after the end of that story.

Please read that story first otherwise this won't make much sense.

Chapter 1

Wednesday April 2nd

The letter arrived while Troy was at Basketball practice and Gabriella read it with mixed feelings. She was flattered to be accepted into the Freshman Honours Program and knew that academically she would enjoy the challenge. But she hated the thought of spending three weeks away from Troy and her friends especially this close to the end of their senior year. She would miss so much of their end of year activities and celebrations.

She hesitated to tell Troy about the letter knowing that he would encourage him to go. She knew that he still felt guilty about her giving up the opportunity to go and study in France with Aunt Ginevra to marry him, even though she really hadn't wanted to go in the first place. So she wanted to make her decision and to try to come to terms with being away from him before she told him about the possibility unfortunately he arrived home from practice earlier than she expected.

Troy immediately knew something was up when he walked in and saw Gabriella sitting at her desk making lists.

"What are you trying to decide?" he asked.

Gabriella turned to face him. "I got accepted into the Freshman Honours program at Stanford" she said flatly.

"That's great Gabriella" he kissed her soundly then stopped and looked at her curiously. "So what don't I know about it?" he asked wondering why she wasn't excited about it.

Gabriella looked at him questioningly.

"Well, I thought you would be thrilled, but you don't look happy about it at all. So tell me about it?" Troy said sitting down on the desk.

"It's a three week program that starts next week" Gabriella told him hesitantly.

"In California?" he clarified.

Gabriella nodded.

"Okay, what's the list for?" Troy asked.

"To decide if I want to go?" Gabriella mumbled.

Troy grabbed the list and began to read 'Pros for telling Troy I got into the freshman honours program'.

"You were deciding whether or not to tell me?" he asked hurt.

"I knew that if I told you, you'd make me go" Gabriella rationalised.

"Of course you should do the freshman honours program Gabriella. Why are you even hesitating? It's a fantastic opportunity" Troy asked.

"I don't want to leave. I would miss Prom and Graduation and the musical and the last day of school" Gabriella said miserably.

Troy was hurt when Gabriella said she didn't want to go because she'd miss school and everything and didn't say that she'd miss him.

"I still think you should go. That's just high school stuff Gabriella, the freshman honours program could be the difference that gets you in to the Graduate school you want. It could make a huge difference long term." Troy said firmly.

Gabriella was hurt that he was so enthusiastic about the idea of her leaving him, didn't he care that they would miss doing all those things together that they'd been planning? Didn't it matter to him that they'd miss the prom; that she wouldn't be there to graduate with him; that he'd be singing with Sharpay instead of her? She packed up her lists and made excuses to Troy and went down to help Lucille with dinner.

"Hi Lucille. Would you like any help?" Gabriella asked quietly as she entered the kitchen not wanting Troy to know that she was only now volunteering to assist with dinner.

Lucille was grateful for the unexpected help but could see that Gabriella seemed upset. It was suspicious that she'd come downstairs less than ten minutes after Troy had gone upstairs, especially when she'd been cheerfully discussing her day earlier when she'd first got home.

"Was the letter from Stanford serious?" she asked hoping that her son hadn't upset her.

"Mmm I got offered a spot in the freshman honours program" Gabriella said peeling potatoes efficiently

"That's wonderful Gabriella you must be so proud of yourself" Lucille exclaimed. "Will it mean a lot of extra work?"

"It's an extra major assignment each semester, the real issue is that it's also three weeks of extra classes starting next week at Stanford" Gabriella explained.

"Where will you stay?" Lucille asked knowing that they had plans to live at Haywood the following year.

"Accommodation is provided on campus. It's a fully funded program all I have to pay for will be meals and travel expenses to get there" Gabriella explained.

"I'm sure your mother or Alejandro will be happy to pay for that" Lucille said "Have you told them about it?"

Gabriella shrugged "I mentioned it to Mom when I applied six months ago, but I didn't think I would get in."

"I would have thought that all full academic scholarship students would automatically be offered a place" Lucille commented.

"Hmm maybe I didn't think about it like that" Gabriella admitted.

"So do you want me to organise your plane tickets or do you want to talk to your mom first?" Lucille asked.

"I haven't decided whether I want to go yet" Gabriella said hesitantly.

Lucille stopped her meal preparations and stared at her daughter-in-law "Why on earth wouldn't you want to go?" she asked.

"I don't want to go to California by myself. That's why I didn't accept when they offered me early entry for this semester" Gabriella attempted to explain.

"You don't want to leave Troy?" Lucille clarified. "I'm sure he's not thrilled with the idea of being apart for three weeks either but I think you should go."

"I'll miss Prom and Graduation and the musical we've worked so hard for. And Troy will have to sing with Sharpay" Gabriella complained.

"You could fly back for Prom and for Graduation. Jack and I will help with the costs if your parents won't. And to be honest Gabriella I think it will do Troy a lot of good to have to be in the musical without you. You won't be in his productions next year and this will give him the opportunity to see if he truly does love the theatre as much as he thinks he does and if he can successfully play a role with someone besides you" Lucille said practically.

"Has Troy been giving you a hard time about going?" she asked.

"No he thinks I'm being silly even considering not going. He was very enthusiastic about the idea" Gabriella replied almost forlornly.

Understanding the problem but not sure what to do about it Lucille changed the subject. "How is Maria? Is she still enjoying her job in Mexico?"

Gabriella smiled "She says she is though she sounds a little lonely since I've come back" she said. Troy's team had won their regional championships so Troy had been busy with Basketball both weeks of spring break and had encouraged Gabriella to spend the second week with her mother even though he had been unable to go with her.

Unfortunately his team had been eliminated at the end of the round robin in the national championship finishing fifth in the country was beyond anyone's expectations but missing out on the finals by such a small margin had been disappointing and without Gabriella there Troy had been quite unhappy.

"Does she know how much longer she will be there?" Lucille asked getting her thoughts back on track.

"She fears she will need to be there most of the summer. And she hasn't found out where she'll be going after this yet either, it's possible that she will move back to the states but be even further from California than she is now" Gabriella laughed ruefully.

"Yes I suppose that's possible" Lucille said sadly, I would love her to move back to Albuquerque but I guess that's pretty unlikely."

"We never went to the same place twice" Gabriella confirmed.

That's everything we can do for the moment it just needs to simmer, I'll just set the table and dinner will be about forty minutes" Lucille said collecting the cutlery.

"I'll do it" Gabriella jumped up.

"Gabriella are you avoiding Troy?" Lucille asked giving Gabriella a firm look.

"No I just don't know what to say to him" Gabriella admitted.

"Hiding down here isn't going to help sort things out" Lucille said gently.

"Okay I'll go talk to him after I set the table" Gabriella said leaving the kitchen.

Troy was on the computer working on his English assignment when she got back. He looked up vaguely but she could see the concentration as he typed and decided not to interrupt. She got her own work out and they passed the time until dinner in silence.

At dinner Troy spoke enthusiastically of the opportunities the freshman honours program could lead to. He had obviously researched the topic while she was downstairs with Lucille.

Gabriella was quiet but did confirm a lot of what Troy was saying. It really was a great opportunity and if she wanted to continue at Stanford for her graduate studies it might increase her chance of admission.

Gabriella knew that she should do the freshman honours program, and with Troy and the Boltons supporting the idea she had no good reason not to.

Troy was focussed on his homework that evening and spent extra time in the shower before coming to bed. Normally Gabriella would have teased him about the reason for the extra long shower but tonight she didn't say anything.

Troy settled into bed and wrapped his arms around Gabriella like usual. "Goodnight" he said kissing her lightly.

"Goodnight Troy" she replied settling in to sleep. It took a long time to fall asleep and she could feel that Troy was still awake as well though he didn't say anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

Thursday April 3rd

Troy ran harder than normal the next morning really pushing himself until his mind was blank. Jack just shook his head and didn't attempt to keep up instead taking a short cut hoping to beat his son home so he could try to talk to him about whatever demons were driving him to break his regular training schedule.

Troy arrived home later than Jack expected, still running flat out, drenched in sweat and panting like a steam train. Jack who knew exactly how fit his son was and knew how much effort it took to cause this effect was seriously worried.

"You were due a fairly light run this morning" he said mildly to start the conversation.

"Yeah I just felt like changing it up a bit" Troy replied evasively.

"Troy.." Jack began questioningly.

"Dad leave it please.."

"Okay Troy. Just remember that I'm here if you need a sounding board" Jack said resigned standing to go and shower.

Troy didn't reply but looked grateful that his father didn't push.

Gabriella was downstairs by the time Troy got out of the shower. She handed over the plate of breakfast she had prepared for Troy and went up to collect her books. They didn't have any opportunity to talk until they were in the truck on the way to school.

"Did you send your acceptance to Stanford?" Troy asked.

"No not yet but I will" Gabriella replied dispiritedly.

"Gabriella, what's the matter?" Troy asked concerned at Gabriella's lack of enthusiasm.

"It's nothing Troy I'm just being silly. I'm sure I'll enjoy the freshman honours program when I get there"

"I'm sure you will" Troy agreed trying to smile.

Gabriella usually so observant failed to notice the sadness behind Troy's smile and forced herself to smile as well.

It was a busy day, Troy spent free period and all of lunch practicing in the gym and they had few classes together.

Gabriella told her friends about the invitation to the freshman honours program.

"That's wonderful. I'm going to throw you a going away party" Taylor exclaimed excitedly.

"I haven't decided to go yet" Gabriella said quietly. She knew that she would end up deciding to go but was putting the final decision off until she could talk to her Mom.

"Are you mad this is too good to pass up" Taylor argued.

"It does sound like a wonderful opportunity" Ryan said agreeing with Taylor.

"It will be quite impressive on your grad school applications" Martha pointed out.

"And it's a great opportunity to get to know some of your classmates before the start of the year" Kelsi put in.

Gabriella sighed "I'm sure your right. But it starts next week. I don't think I'm ready to leave East High yet. I wanted to finish the year with everyone else."

"You really don't want to go?" Ryan asked.

"It feels like every other time we had to move. I always hated leaving. And I have so much more here than I've had anywhere else" Gabriella said sadly.

"But it's different this time you're only going for three weeks then you'll be coming back" Kelsi encouraged her.

"Yeah but it doesn't feel different" Gabriella complained.

"You're being irrational" Taylor commented.

"I know" Gabriella huffed in frustration.

The bell rang and Gabriella got up without speaking and hurried away from her friends.

-oOo-

"What's going on with you and Gabriella" Taylor demanded after classes finished as she cornered him in the hall on his way to basketball practice after leaving Gabriella in the science room.

Tory merely growled in response "Stay out of it Taylor"

"I thought you'd be proud of Gabriella and happy that she got such a great opportunity" Taylor said as she got up "I never thought you'd be this selfish Troy"

Troy looked astonished and hurt at the accusation. "I am proud of her and I encouraged her to go. Don't blame me if she doesn't want to go" Troy yelled.

"You're not acting like your happy that she got in to the program. I know she told me that you said she should go but she can see you're angry about it. Actions speak louder than words Troy" Taylor said heatedly.

"What? I'm not angry with Gabriella" Troy protested.

"Then what's your problem Troy? Gabriella told me you've hardly talked to her since she told you about being accepted." Taylor calmed down as her analytical mind started to focus on the problem.

"I just wanted to be why she was hesitating" Troy mumbled.

"What was that?" Taylor asked confused.

"I wanted to be the reason she hesitated to go. I wanted to be the thing she would miss. I never wanted to hold her back. I want her to do the Honours Program, I just wanted to know she'd thought about how it would affect us" Troy said miserably.

"Troy what are you talking about?" Taylor asked impatiently.

"Gabriella said she didn't want to miss Prom and Graduation and the musical and school and finishing the yearbook and you guys. But she never said she would miss me." Troy hung his head as tears filled his eyes.

"Troy you're crazy of course she will miss you." Taylor said, shocked that Troy could be thinking that.

"Then why didn't she say so?" Troy demanded determinedly facing away so Taylor wouldn't see that he was close to crying.

"I don't know Troy. You'll have to ask her. But I guarantee she has a reason and it's not because she will miss any of the things she talked about more than she will miss you" Taylor tried to reassure him.

Troy still didn't feel convinced but he was determined to pull himself together. "Thanks Taylor" he said forcing a smile before getting up and walking away.

Taylor looked after him in disbelief. Troy and Gabriella normally looked like they had the perfect romance. How could things go so wrong between the two of them without any real reason.

-oOo-

Gabriella had rung Maria as soon as she got home with Lucille, she'd tried the night before as well and failed to get through. This time was successful.

"Hi Mom" Gabriella said.

"Gabriella! How are you?"

"I'm alright. I got my acceptance into the freshman honours program at Stanford" Gabriella replied trying to sound positive.

"Is Troy giving you a hard time about leaving?" Maria asked concerned noticing that Gabriella's cheerful attitude seemed forced.

"No not at all he thinks I should do it" Gabriella said unenthusiastically.

"Good" Maria stated firmly.

"Mom?" Gabriella questioned her mother's reaction.

"Troy promised me the Sunday after your wedding that he would not hold you back. That you would not lose or turn down any opportunity to succeed because of your marriage" Maria explained.

"I didn't know that" Gabriella said thoughtfully.

"What's the problem Gabriella, I thought you'd be excited to get into the honours program?" Maria asked. "you were certainly enthusiastic about it when you applied."

Gabriella sighed "I don't want to leave Troy. And he's acting like he really wants me to go" she explained.

"Troy has always wanted what's best for you Gabriella, of course he's going to encourage you to do the honours program. Please say you're going to do it."

"Yes Mom I'm going to. I'll send my acceptance off now"

"Good. I know it's hard to leave Troy but I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you get there. And it's a great opportunity. It might make the difference in whether you're accepted into the classes you want to do as well as graduate programs" Maria encouraged.

"I know Mom" Gabriella agreed not bringing up her real feelings of abandonment.

"I love you Gabriella"

"I love you too Mom. I miss you."

"I miss you too. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye Mom"

Gabriella went down and told Lucille she'd decided to go to California for the freshman honours program before going out to post her acceptance.

Maria sat thoughtfully for a moment then tried to call Troy and offer him her support. Unfortunately Troy had turned his phone off not wanting to talk to anyone.

-oOo-

Troy had called his Mom to come and pick up Gabriella while he stayed late at basketball practice and then when Jack kicked him out he went to the park to shoot hoops of the court there until it got to dark to see. He arrived home too late for dinner and headed straight for the kitchen where his mother would be keeping a plate warm.

He made a half-hearted attempt to eat but ended up mostly just sitting pushing food around his plate. His mother came and took the plate away.

"Oh Hey sorry Mom I guess I wasn't hungry" Troy said guiltily.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lucille asked gently.

"No thanks Mom. It'll work itself out" Troy said being more hopeful than honest.

"I haven't seen you like this since before you married Gabriella. Is everything okay with the two of you?"

Troy didn't answer.

Without Troy being willing to tell her about what was bothering him Lucille could only give generalised advice.

"Talk to Gabriella Troy, she's upset too. Every successful marriage needs to be built on open communication."

Troy sighed, he knew his mother was probably right but at the moment he didn't want to talk to Gabriella he was too scared of what she might say or might not say.

-oOo-

Troy gathered his courage and went upstairs to face his wife. He entered the room quietly and found her asleep at her desk. Not wanting to wake her we walked over and took the quilt off the bed before picking up Gabriella and placing her on the bed, removing her shoes before covering her up. He returned to the desk and packed up Gabriella's books disappointed not to find the list of pros and cons about the freshman honours program. He was tempted to look for it but knew that if Gabriella had wanted him to see it she would have left it on the desk he restrained himself. He got his books out and started his homework. Concentrating hard on his work so he didn't have to think about his personal problems he finished all the work he had been allocated even the essays that weren't due until the following week before collapsing into bed.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Siobhan, iminlove13, "lazy", lizzien12345678, gleegoalie13, IamGarcia, Boris Yeltsin, foodbox, anikahayley, Firefly22712 and kelly81387 for your support.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Friday April 4th

Troy wasn't motivated to run next morning but he managed to drag himself out of bed knowing he didn't want to face the questions and disapproval of his father. Unlike yesterday he stuck to his training regimen a fairly light work out to allow his muscles time to recover from the overexertion the day before. He ran in silence not wanting to discuss the situation with Gabriella and not feeling up to putting up a front with his father.

Gabriella woke soon after Troy left surprised to find herself still fully dressed. Thinking back she didn't remember going to bed at all, or finishing her homework. She got up to check on it finding it neatly stacked on the bookshelf.

She opened it up to read over and saw that it was only half completed. Cursing she sat down to finish what she could before she needed to get ready for school.

Troy watched sadly from the doorway as Gabriella typed frantically trying to keep pace with her thoughts. He had always known and accepted that Gabriella was a huge amount smarter than anyone else he knew and it had never bothered him in the slightest until this morning. However standing here watching the proof of it made him feel stupid by comparison. Trying to shake of the feeling he quietly got dressed and packed up his books and gym bag for the day.

"Gabriella. It's nearly seven thirty" he reminded his wife as he left the room.

Troy had finished breakfast and packaged up a breakfast sandwich for Gabriella to eat in the car by the time she hurried downstairs.

"Come on let's go" he said handing her the sandwich.

Gabriella smiled and kissed Troy's cheek as she took the sandwich. They made their way to the truck and Troy was quiet as Gabriella ate while he drove towards the school.

The silence bothering her, Gabriella made her excuses as soon as they arrived and hurried off towards the library.

-oOo-

"So have you decided to go? Can I start planning your going away party yet?" Taylor asked as she caught up with Gabriella.

"I don't want a party." Gabriella said dispiritedly.

"But you have decided to go?" Taylor clarified hopefully.

"Yeah well I may as well, Troy sure wants me to go" Gabriella sighed.

"Of course he wants you to go. It's a wonderful opportunity. You'd be mad to turn it down. Troy's not selfish enough to ask you to give up something like this" Taylor replied.

"He's been spending more and more time with the guys and he hasn't even said he will miss me. I'm afraid that he's looking forward to not having me around all the time" Gabriella started to cry.

"Gabriella that's ridiculous. I spoke to Troy and I know he will miss you. You actually need to sit down and talk to him, he's really upset" Taylor told her friend encouragingly.

"What's he upset about?" Gabriella asked surprised that Troy had talked to Taylor about this.

"I think you should be asking Troy that? If I tell you then he'll know it was me and I don't want to break his confidence." Taylor said hesitantly. "Promise me you'll talk to Troy about this Gabriella." She demanded staring at her friend until she agreed.

"Yeah okay I'll talk to him" Gabriella replied looking down.

-oOo-

Troy and Gabriella didn't have any classes together that morning and Troy was at practice during their free period so Gabriella didn't get the opportunity to look for him until lunchtime. After not finding Troy at lunch Gabriella opened the door of the gym hoping to find him there. Hearing the sounds of one person practicing alone she walked towards the courts. Expecting to see Troy she was surprised to find Coach Bolton shooting hoops. Temporarily distracted from her search she walked towards him wondering if something was wrong.

"Coach. Is everything okay?" She asked knowing his habit of retreating to the nearest Basketball hoop when he needed to think.

Jack turned and smiled to see his daughter-in-law "Gabriella, What are you doing here? Did you need me for something?" he asked concerned.

"No I was looking for Troy and when I heard the sound of someone shooting hoops I thought maybe I'd find him here" Gabriella explained.

"I haven't seen him since practice finished earlier. He seemed kind of down these last few days" Jack said frowning. "I don't want to interfere but Lucille and I are starting to worry. I know he's not looking forward to you being away, but is there something else going on?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. That's why I was looking for him. We need to talk this out. It is probably a simple misunderstanding" Gabriella replied unconvincingly.

"He's been trying hard to be supportive of you going to California for the Freshman Honours Program" Jack confided seriously "but I think he's been dreading you being away for so long."

Gabriella sighed. "That's part of the problem Jack, Troy's been too supportive. He's encouraging me to go every time I bring it up when I really need him to tell me that he will miss me as much as I'm going to miss him."

"How can you doubt it? Look at the way he was when we were at Santa Fe. He came home to you every single night, whether you'd come to the game or not. I had a terrible time to chase all the other boys to bed each night but Troy couldn't wait to get home to you. He even wanted to drive up separately so that he didn't have to wait for me after the game" Jack laughed at the memory.

Gabriella smiled, "Yeah I know. I just need to hear the words as well you know?" She changed the subject

"Seriously though, what's driven you to playing Basketball on your own? Were you really that worried about me and Troy? Or is there something else troubling you?" she asked concerned.

Jack shrugged "That and the mountain of paperwork sitting on my desk. I hate this time of year once the season's done. There's only so much time I can spend sitting still before I have to get up and shoot hoops" He grinned disarmingly, half expecting a watered down version of the lecture his wife would have given him in this situation.

Gabriella laughed and said "Well I'll let you get back to your procrastination then." She left continuing her search for her husband.

-oOo-

She found Troy sitting on the roof in his 'not so secret place', the team knew that Troy came up here either to be alone or to be alone with Gabriella and respected his privacy. Since they'd got married Gabriella had also stopped coming up here to look for him unless she was invited, figuring that living together as they did they each got very few opportunities to be truly alone and think things through and that she didn't want to intrude if Troy needed to be alone. Today however she knew he wasn't so much thinking things through as brooding turning a small misunderstanding into a mountain of uncertainty and hurt.

She climbed the stairs and sat next to him without speaking wrapping her arms around him. "I'm going to miss this" she said quietly as the warning bell rang. They both had the next period free so neither made any attempt to move.

Troy was very tempted to ask 'Miss what?' but was afraid of the answer.

"I'm going to miss you" he said instead hoping that Gabriella would agree.

"Oh Troy. I'm going to miss you so much" she said turning and kissing him.

Troy eagerly responded to the kiss, their hands roaming as their passion caught fire.

Abruptly pulling away Troy jumped up and walked over to lean on the wall edging the roof looking out over the school his fists clenched and back tense.

"Troy what's wrong?" asked Gabriella following him, hurt by Troy's rejection.

"We can't. Not here. I promised Dad" blurted out Troy trying to subdue his hormones.

Gabriella bit her lip to stop herself from protesting. They had promised Jack that they wouldn't have sex at school and she felt that they owed him that because he had been so supportive since they got married. Instead she tried to discuss what had been going on lately.

"Troy we need to talk" she blurted without thinking of the effect these particular word would have.

Troy turned white "Please Gabi whatever it is we can work this out. Please don't leave me" he begged sinking down to sit on the ground shaking. He was horrified to feel tears running down his face.

Gabriella threw herself into Troy's lap "Troy no! It's okay. I didn't mean that" she said horrified that her words had unintentionally hurt him so badly.

"Then what?" Troy asked hoarsely.

"Things between us have been strained since I got the letter about the Freshman Honours Program. We need to talk about how we really feel about it instead of pretending that it's all going to be all right" she explained.

Troy nodded, turning his head away to blow his nose on the tissue Gabriella handed him. He took a deep breath and began to speak.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Boris Yeltsin, Prof M, JERSEYLOVER54 and iminlove13 for your support.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

"I want you to go to Stanford next week" he said. "I don't want you to miss such a great opportunity because of me. I don't know how I'm going to cope without you here but I need to know that you decided whether or not you want to attend the program without worrying about me. I couldn't live with the thought that I'm holding you back. I think that if you don't do the program that maybe you'll regret not going in the future and I'm afraid you'll resent me for causing you to give up the opportunity."

Gabriella nodded. "I am going to do the freshman Honours Program" she agreed. "I sent the acceptance last night after talking with Mom on the phone and Lucille has booked my flights and everything. I know you want what's best for me Troy, but it hurt when you encouraged me to go and didn't tell me that you'd miss me."

"You didn't tell me that you would miss me either" answered Troy angrily "Did you really expect me to beg you not to go, to be that selfish?" he asked.

"Troy you have never been selfish when it comes to anything in our relationship" Gabriella said quietly. Tears ran down her face as she began to realise how stupid she had been not to see what Troy had been trying to do. "I'm sorry" she sobbed. "I never meant to hurt you"

"I'm sorry too" Troy replied his temper subsiding as he saw how distressed she was.

"You have nothing to be sorry about Troy. You were only trying to be supportive" she said hugging him.

"Why did you say you'd miss all those other things instead of missing me?"Troy asked in a small voice after a few minutes.

Gabriella thought for a moment remembering their original conversation when she told him about the offer. "Troy the main reason I'll miss all those things is that we were planning to do them together. I was thinking about you when I said I'd miss all that. I didn't realise until now that I didn't actually say how much I would miss you. I never meant for you to take it the way you did. I'm so sorry."She pushed his legs down and straddled his lap hugging him tightly and kissing away the tear tracks on his cheeks and down his neck.

Troy shuddered, pulling her against his rapidly hardening arousal. Gabriella felt the heated bulge between her legs and couldn't help but squirm.

Troy grasped her hips firmly and held her still. "Please don't" he said.

"Let's skip the afternoon and go home, you're mom's working today so the house will be empty" Gabriella suggested.

Troy looked shocked. "You're suggesting we play truant?" he asked surprised. "Gabriella Bolton the perfect over achiever is going to skip class to have sex" he added teasingly.

"Well what classes do you have this afternoon?" Gabriella asked blushing but trying to ignore his teasing.

Troy sighed "I have a biology quiz. I can't miss it because it's part of our grade. Not that I'm going to do very well. I haven't been able to concentrate" he admitted.

"Well we have half an hour, fetch your book and I'll help you revise" Gabriella offered climbing off his lap.

Troy pretended to grumble as he grabbed his biology text and opened it to the right chapter before handing it to Gabriella. They spent the rest of free period revising before headed to Biology armed with the knowledge to ace his test.

Gabriella was waiting for Troy outside his class room at the end of the day.

"Let's go" she said pulling Troy through the hallways.

Troy laughed as he happily let Gabriella drag him wherever she pleased. She allowed him to stop by his locker then dragged him to his truck.

"Hey Gabriella where are you running off to in such a hurry?" Chad called as they rushed past.

"Hi Chad Got to go" Gabriella called back.

"Hey Chad talk to you later" Troy added grinning still being pulled along by Gabriella.

Chad smiled as he watched the retreating pair. It was obvious that they'd sorted out what ever had been wrong over the past two days and it was good to see his friends happy again.

They arrived at his truck and climbed in. "Okay Gabriella where to?" Troy asked.

"Home" Gabriella said "Your Mom has appointments until late tonight and you're Dad has plans with friends this afternoon" she explained.

"How do you know all this?" Troy asked surprised.

"They were discussing it at dinner last night" Gabriella replied.

They arrived home and made their way upstairs where Gabriella closed their bedroom curtains leaving the room dimly lit before turning back the bedding.

Troy turned off his cell phone leaving Gabriella's on in case Maria tried to call before starting to undress.

Gabriella finished fussing with the bed and started to unbutton her shirt slowly. Troy was enjoying the slow reveal but stepped up to her to hurry things along knowing Gabriella was feeling self conscious. He efficiently stripped her to her underwear before lifting her up and carrying her to the bed climbing in beside her and covering them both with the quilt.

Pulling her into his arms he kissed her passionately. Gabriella moulded herself against him enjoying the feel of his growing erection as it pressed into her stomach. She rolled on top of him pressing him into the mattress. Troy grinned in the kiss moving both hands to caress her bum.

Gabriella squirmed in pleasure drawing a groan and thrust from Troy.

Troy ran his hand up her back unfastening her bra on the way to tangle his fingers in her hair deepening the kiss.

Gabriella sat up straddling his hips and Troy slowly ran his arms down her arms dragging the bra straps with him before cupping her breasts and sitting up to suckle a nipple. Gabriella arched her back moaning and Troy turned his attention to the other nipple his fingers playing with the damp one he'd just released.

Gabriella rocked herself against his erection the now soaking cotton of her panties little barrier to the sensation.

Troy knew that he needed to slow this down a little or he'd come too quickly. He lifted Gabriella off him and flipped them over until he was on top raising himself to his knees. He hooked his fingers in the elastic of Gabriella's panties looking at her for permission to remove them.

Gabriella smiled at him sexily and raised her hips to allow him to easily slide them down her legs and off. Troy looked down at Gabriella now lying naked in front of him "You're so beautiful" he whispered admiringly.

Gabriella blushed and squirmed slightly in embarrassment but was too turned on to hide her body from his gaze. Troy ran his hands over her breasts and down her stomach to caress her thigh. Gabriella whined in disappointment as his hands bypassed her core but Troy only smiled as he massaged her inner thigh slowly pushing her legs open further his eyes feasting on the sight in front of him.

Gabriella was surprised how arousing lying there exposed as he stared at her body could be. It had been a while since she'd been naked with him except in the dark. She thrust her hips up wordlessly asking for more. Troy bent down and slowly licked his way along her labia before lifting his head to grin at her as she moaned. "Is that what you want?" he asked cheekily.

"Stop teasing Troy" Gabriella wailed as he did it again raising his head to look in her eyes.

"Tell me what you want me to do" Troy demanded huskily enjoying Gabriella's desperation.

Gabriella grabbed his head with both hands pulling it roughly back to her core. "Do it properly" she demanded.

"Yes Ma'am" Troy mumbled with his mouth full.

He quickly brought Gabriella to orgasm tonguing her clitoris before thrusting his tongue into her vagina just as she started to come down triggering a second orgasm.

Gabriella still had her hands tangled in his hair and pulled him away as he started trying to work her to a third. "Make love to me Troy" she said.

Troy moved up to kiss her gently before reaching into the bedside drawer for a condom. He rolled it on and lined himself up before pushing slowly inside watching Gabriella's expressions as he did.

Gabriella closed her eyes enjoying the slow slide as Troy moved inside her already orgasm sensitised entrance. She arched her back and wrapped her legs around him pushing him in deeper with her feet on his bum.

Troy sped up thrusting more strongly and Gabriella orgasmed quickly. As she came down from her orgasm Troy thought he saw her wince in pain. He stilled immediately.

"Do you want me to stop?" he asked concerned.

"No Troy you haven't come yet" Gabriella protested.

"I don't want to hurt you" Troy whispered.

"You won't Troy. Please don't stop" Gabriella said.

Troy leaned down kissing Gabriella passionately almost shaking with the effort of keeping his body still. Hi kissed behind her ear and down her jaw line.

It didn't take long for Gabriella to start responding again. She thrust up against Troy encouraging him to move

"Please Troy" she begged.

Troy thrust gently and slowly keeping Gabriella on the brink of orgasm until she thought she'd go mad.

"Please Troy more...please harder...please" she babbled.

Troy sped up his thrusts sending her over the edge and this time the contractions of her orgasm were too much for him and he came with a shout.

He got up to dispose of the condom bringing a facecloth to clean Gabriella up. He offered her a shirt but she was already nearly asleep and didn't respond so he climbed back into bed and cuddled up enjoying the feel of her naked body against his.

A/N: Thank you to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Boris Yeltsin, iminlove13, Prof M. beblobs, LiveandLoveYourLife4Ever and KLeighEagle4031 for your support.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Taylor finished the official progress meeting for the yearbook committee and pulled out her phone to call Gabriella again. She was annoyed that her friend hadn't at least let her know that she wasn't going to come to the meeting but hoped that at least it meant that Gabriella and Troy had finally found time to talk through their misunderstanding.

Gabriella still wasn't answering and Taylor frowned for a minute before deciding to call Troy. When Troy didn't answer his phone either Taylor called Chad.

"Yo! Talk to me Baby" Chad said cheerfully.

"Chad how many times have I asked you not to call me baby?" Taylor asked irritated.

"Sorry Taylor" Chad apologised automatically not sounding at all apologetic.

Taylor sighed knowing that this was the best she could hope for. "Have you seen Troy?" she asked.

"You're leaving me for Hoops? He's married you know?" Chad teased.

"Chad" Taylor yelled.

"No I haven't seen him since he met up with Gabriella after class this afternoon" Chad replied seriously. "They looked like they'd made up she was pulling him out to his truck" he added.

"I don't think they argued in the first place" Taylor replied, "but I'm glad that they've sorted out their misunderstanding."

"So are you really looking for Hoops or for Gabs?" Chad asked curiously.

"Neither of them are answering their phones." Taylor answered.

"Oh ho! I can guess what they're up to" Chad crowed.

"Something we won't be getting up to for quite some time if you don't grow up" Taylor snapped before hanging up.

Glad that Gabriella and Troy seemed to have settled things between them Taylor headed home to begin planning the going away party for the following night. She asked her mother first for permission as soon as she walked into the house.

"Hi Mom can I have a few friends over tomorrow night?" she asked hopefully

"How many friends do you mean?" Dana McKenzie asked suspiciously continuing to cut carrots for dinner.

"About a dozen" Taylor replied sounding more like a question.

Dana sighed "Is there a special reason that you want to have a party on such short notice?" she asked putting down the knife and giving Taylor her full attention.

"Gabriella's leaving for the freshman honours program at Stanford on Sunday" Taylor explained.

"And surely you didn't just find that out today?" Mrs McKessie stated incredulously.

"No we found out a couple of days ago but Gabriella refused to have a party until she and Troy sorted out the misunderstanding they were having" Taylor explained.

"I suppose you can have a party this once but I expect a lot more notice in future young lady" her mother scolded. "Thanks Mom" Taylor said giving her mother a quick hug.

"Do you want finger foods or should we order pizza?" Dana asked.

"The boys are coming it might be easier to order pizza" Taylor answered.

"And potato crisps and finger foods as well if Chad and his friends will be here" her mother said laughing.

Taylor laughed too shaking her head. "You know them well" she said.

"Are you going to invite Jack and Lucille?" Dana asked.

"I can if you want me to, but it might be awkward if they're the only parents invited" Taylor said thoughtfully.

"I think you should invite them and explain the situation then it will be their choice if they come or not."

"Yes alright I'll call them" Taylor said going upstairs.

She texted Kelsi and Martha. "G & T have made up. Mom says can have party 4 G 2morrow."

Kelsi immediately called back.

"Are you sure they've sorted things out?" she demanded without saying hello.

"Chad said Gabriella was waiting for Troy after class this afternoon and they both looked happy. Gabriella didn't come to the yearbook meeting and they've both not answering their phones" Taylor explained.

"Do you want me to come over and help organise the party?" Kelsi said happily.

"Okay" Taylor said smiling. One of the side effects of Gabriella and Troy getting married was that Taylor was now closer to Kelsi and Ryan because Gabriella had limited time free for her friends and she still wanted to spend as much time as she could with them all and Taylor hadn't felt she could just ring Gabriella at all hours of the day anymore in case she was intruding and started ringing the others more often.

"I'll pick up Martha as well" Kelsi suggested.

"Sure three heads are better than two" Taylor agreed.

Taylor went down to warn her Mom that Kelsi and perhaps Martha would be coming to help plan the party.

"That's fine. I thought sausage rolls and quiches and potato crisps for starters, then pizza and then do you think we need desserts or just a cake?"

"I'll ask Zeke to make the cake" Taylor suggested taking out her phone.

"Hi Taylor what's up?" Zeke replied speaking strangely quietly.

"Hi Zeke. Where are you? Are you okay?" Taylor asked concerned at Zeke's response.

"Yeah I'm at Sharpay's she's just getting changed to show me her knew song and dance routine" Zeke explained quietly.

"Okay I'll get to the point before she comes back. I'm having a party for Gabriella at my house tomorrow night at 6pm. I would love you to come but also if I pay for the ingredients could you make the cake?" Taylor asked.

"Sure how many people will it be for?" Zeke agreed.

"I told Mom probably about twelve" Taylor replied.

"So big enough for sixteen or so. You don't need to pay for the ingredients I'd be happy to make Gabriella a cake. Do you want it to say 'congratulations' or 'We'll miss you'? Do you want me to bake some cookies too?"

Taylor smiled "I love your cookies" she said. "I think the cake should say 'Congratulations' or 'Farewell' we don't want to remind her of how much she'll miss everybody"

"You mean how much she'll miss Troy?" Zeke retorted. "Bye" he added suddenly and hung up.

Taylor sighed wondering what a great and easygoing guy like Zeke saw in Sharpay that made him put up with her need to always be the centre of attention.

"That's organised. Zeke's going to make the cake and bring cookies for dessert" she told her Mom.

Dana smiled and began writing a shopping list.

Kelsi arrived alone. "Martha's got relatives over for dinner but she said she could be here at eight thirty of we need her" she reported.

"Well girls these are the things I will need from the grocery store." You may take my car" Dana said handing over the list and some cash.

"Thanks Mom" Taylor said taking the keys and leaving the house.

As soon as they were in the car Kelsi turned to Taylor "Are you sure Gabriella's going to want a party?" she asked.

"She agreed to have one" Taylor replied.

"Yeah because you've been nagging her about it. I don't think Gabriella feels like celebrating" Kelsi argued.

"All the more reason to have a party for her. Getting invited to attend the freshman honours program is a huge achievement and Gabriella should be proud of herself" Taylor retorted.

"Gabriella hates drawing attention to how intelligent she is" Kelsi reminded her. "And I think she's more worried about being away and missing the end of year celebrations at East High."

"Being away from Troy you mean?" Taylor snarked.

"Of course she's going to miss Troy. But she's worried about leaving all of us. She's had to leave so many schools before and every time her friends promised to keep in touch and none of them did for more than a few months if that. I really think Gabriella's had far too many going away parties in her life already" Kelsi said sadly.

"Then we have to make sure this party is about congratulating her for her achievement" Taylor said refusing to back down. "Besides she'll be back in three weeks for Graduation."

"She'll be back in two weeks for Prom if I know Troy" Kelsi retorted.

Taylor laughingly agreed.

They arrived at the store and quickly got what they needed for Dana before choosing teal and purple decorations and heading home.

Taylor called Chad and Jason to come and help her rearrange the furniture for the party moving the couches to the edges of the room to allow space for dancing, and Ryan to ask him to organise the music. Martha arrived at eight thirty as promised to help with the banner and Zeke called in on his way home from Sharpay's and stayed to help Dana in the kitchen.

Before long they'd done as much as they could that night and Dana sent them home "I agreed to host a party tomorrow not tonight as well" she said laughing.

"Sorry Mrs McKessie" Kelsi and Martha replied.

"It's alright girls. I appreciate the help" Dana replied smiling.

"See ya tomorrow Mrs Mac. See ya Babe" Chad said kissing Taylor.

"Don't call me that" Taylor replied automatically kissing him back.

"Bye Mrs McKessie. If you need any help with the food tomorrow give me a call" Zeke offered.

"Thanks Zeke but I think I've got it. You've got a cake to bake" Dana reminded Zeke.

"Good night Mrs McKessie" Jason said as they left.

"I never thought that I'd say this but making friends with those boys was really good for you." Dana McKessie said to her daughter as they cleaned up the kitchen after everyone had gone.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, iminlove13, Kiara, Boris Yeltsin, lover891127 and Sjvulvtriocdaaaf for your support.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella didn't sleep for long Troy was enjoying being cuddled up to a naked Gabriella a little too much and was thrusting against her bum in his sleep. She rolled him onto his back and kissed her way down his chest, taking him into her mouth and swirling her tongue around the head.

Troy woke up as she swallowed him whole. Already quite worked up it didn't take very long before Troy was babbling trying to warn her before he exploded in her mouth.

He smiled and pulled her up to lie on top of him kissing her languidly ignoring the taste of himself on her tongue.

Gabriella's phone chirped with an incoming text.

Gabriella read it quickly and put the phone down on the dresser.

Troy made an enquiring sound.

"Taylor asking where I am, I was supposed to be at the yearbook committee meeting after school" Gabriella explained laying her head back down on his chest enjoying the afterglow.

"Taylor confronted me you know. She tried to yell at me for pressuring you to stay" Troy told his wife as they lay cuddled up.

Gabriella was surprised "But I told her you said that I should do it" she protested.

"Yeah she agreed that you'd told her that already when I said that. But she still thought that you were hesitating because you thought I was angry about you leaving" Troy explained.

"I think she's more excited about me doing the program than I am" Gabriella said smiling.

"Are you looking forward to the program?" Troy asked.

"Honestly I haven't been. I was excited about it back in September when I first applied but I'd forgotten all about it until the acceptance letter came. Since then I've been so focused on how much I'm going to miss you, and on how you were behaving that I haven't thought about it" Gabriella replied yawning.

"Are you sure you want to sleep? Mom will be home soon" Troy asked.

"I haven't slept very well in the last couple of days" Gabriella replied closing her eyes.

Troy chuckled and go out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Gabriella grumbled.

"You want to sleep" he reminded her "If I stay in bed I'd only end up waking you up again."

"I'll take my chances" she said holding up the quilt invitingly.

Troy conceded defeat but knowing he wasn't at all tired grabbed his History text to read. He sat leaning against the headboard and Gabriella put her head in his lap.

"Perhaps I should put on some boxers" Troy suggested knowing that if anyone opened the door with the way Gabriella had dragged the quilt down to wrap it around herself he'd be fully exposed.

Gabriella made a dissenting noise in her throat and refused to allow him to move.

Luckily his book was large enough to cover the important bits when his mother peeked her head in to see if they were okay when they didn't come down for dinner though she was able to see that the book was his only covering.

Lucille blushed and turned away "Sorry Troy" she said softly. "I just wanted to check you were okay. You've both been quite upset lately. Dinner's ready if you want to come down."

Troy looked down fondly at his sleeping wife and shrugged. "I'll try to wake her up" he replied doubtfully.

"No leave her sleep she looked tired this morning. I'll reheat it for you when you come down" his mother said shutting the door quietly behind her.

Troy had finished his reading for History and was working on his Biology prac report by the time Gabriella woke up.

She arched her back stretching as she opened her eyes to find Troy's genitals mere centimetres from her face. With a wicked grin she blew lightly across them making Troy jump.

"Hey" he said putting down his pen and stretching his back from the awkward position he'd been working in, inadvertently brushing his scrotum across Gabriella's face.

"Sorry Gabriella" he said blushing and trying to move away.

"If you want me to suck on it you should ask?" Gabriella said teasingly.

"No I was just stretching" Troy said quickly. "Are you hungry? Mom said she'd keep dinner for us."

"She came in?" Gabriella asked horrified.

"No she stopped in the doorway, luckily it was while I had my History book in my lap" Troy replied. "It's not a huge issue Gabriella we weren't doing anything wrong" Troy said calmly.

Gabriella tried to tell Troy she wasn't hungry but the growling of her stomach betrayed her and Troy insisted that they get up and eat dinner. They dressed and went downstairs both blushing when they entered the kitchen where Lucille was finishing the dishes.

After dinner Troy and Gabriella stayed at the table talking. "Tell me more about this freshman honours program?" Troy asked.

"I applied for it at the same time as I applied for Stanford itself" Gabriella said. "I didn't think much more about it. Quite a few of the colleges had some form of extra tuition programs that I applied for as well. Then with all the worry about Alejandro and the marriage contract I simply didn't think of it" she explained.

"It's okay Gabriella. I'm not upset that you didn't tell me about it when you applied, we were both so busy with applications and I really didn't want to think about you going away so even if you had mentioned it I might have ignored the possibility" Troy reassured her. "I want to hear more about what you know of the program."

"They accept thirty freshmen each year and it involves three weeks of classes now and a major research assignment to be completed by the end of freshman year" Gabriella explained. "I can show you more about it on the computer."

They went upstairs and Troy read the spiel on their website before looking at the bio sheet of the other students who'd been accepted.

"I wonder if they'll all accept" Troy said thoughtfully.

"Probably, you were right when you said I'd be mad not to do it. And they all had to have accepted the offer to go to Stanford next year to be offered a place in the program" Gabriella replied.

"So these will be your classmates for the next four years. It will make the start of the year easier to already have made friends" Troy said encouragingly.

"Yeah that's what Kelsi said" Gabriella agreed.

Troy looked through the pictures of the freshman honours class again. These people would be Gabriella's friends and would no doubt have a lot more in common with Gabriella than he did. On the other hand Gabriella had never shown an interest in dating or even making particularly close friends with any of the guys in the scholastic decathlon team. He decided not to worry about it. Gabriella always encouraged him to do his best but she never gave him the impression that she cared about the fact that he wasn't as smart as she was or that she wished that he was more intellectual. He shut down the site and turned to Gabriella changing the subject. "It's Friday night. Do you want to see what the other's are doing, or would you like to go out for a while?" he asked.

"I'm still pretty tired. I wouldn't mind going out for a little while but I'd like to have a fairly early night" Gabriella answered reaching for her phone. She checked through her messages "The others have gone to the movies" she said checking the time "But they say that the movie's about to start we won't get there in time to see the beginning."

Troy shrugged "I'm not really in the mood to sit still either" he admitted.

"So you want to go bowling, gokarting or play minigolf or something like that" Gabriella said ruefully.

"Or just a walk in the park" Troy suggested.

"I have a better idea. How about you get changed and go for a run and then come back and we can snuggle up down in the den and watch a movie here" Gabriella countered.

A/N: thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, iminlove13, Boris Yeltsin, xoray812, erikaelizabethlivingupLIFE and ceciliaa93 for your support.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy enjoyed his run and hurried upstairs to shower and change ready to snuggle up with Gabriella. He pulled on his wildcats tracksuit and arrived downstairs as Gabriella was frowning as she looked through their collection of movies.

"What's wrong?" he asked coming up and putting his arms around her.

"I can't find anything that appeals to me that I think we'd both like to watch" Gabriella complained.

"It's okay you can choose whatever you want" Troy offered generously.

"Charlie St Cloud" Gabriella said putting the disc in the player.

Troy bit back a groan reminding himself that he had given her the choice of chick flicks. He could always sleep if it got too much. "Do we want popcorn?" he asked heading for the kitchen to make some.

Gabriella followed him "Taylor wants to throw me a going away party tomorrow night" she said not really caring for her own sake but hoping Troy would agree seeing it seemed to mean so much to her friend.

"When did you hear from her I thought they were at the movies?" Troy asked.

"It was the boys turn to choose" Gabriella said.

"Oh so was Taylor texting in the movie or pretending to go to the bathroom?"

"In the movie I think otherwise the others would have joined in"

"Chad must've loved that" Troy said smirking.

Gabriella looked at him enquiringly. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded.

Troy leaned in and whispered in her ear "Please don't tell Taylor but the only reason Chad insists that Taylor comes to all those war and car chase shoot up type movies is that he enjoys it when she gets bored with the movie and she starts trying to distract him" he admitted.

Gabriella burst into giggles. When she could control herself she admitted "Taylor already knows. She enjoys trying to drive Chad insane in those movies. She does it on purpose."

Troy laughed.

"Are you okay with the party?" Gabriella asked seriously.

"When do you fly out?" Troy asked.

"Ten am Sunday morning"

Troy shrugged, "Yeah so long as we don't have to stay too late. I want a chance to say good bye too."

Gabriella smiled. "Of course. I'm going to miss you more than anyone else" she said reassuringly.

Troy smiled "It's okay Gabriella I know that now. I won't get insecure again if you admit you will miss your friends too."

"I know that Troy but it's true I will miss you more than everything else put together" Gabriella said kissing his cheek.

Gabriella started the movie and they sat down to watch in peace. Troy was soon bored and considered using Taylor's tactics in boring movies against Gabriella. He squeezed the arm he had wrapped around her and used his other hand to draw circles on her thigh.

"Troy" Gabriella protested quietly aware of Jack and Lucille's presence in the other room and not wanting to draw their attention.

"Hmm" Troy said absently, concentrating on Gabriella's non verbal reactions.

"Stop it Troy"

Troy grinned at her and withdrew both his hands sitting beside her without touching her pretending to concentrate on the movie.

Gabriella looked at him suspiciously before turning back to the movie. After a minute or so Gabriella had instinctively curled up against Troy wrapping her arms around him. Troy retuned his hand to her thigh rubbing up and down just firmly enough not to tickle.

Gabriella recognised what Troy was doing she had half expected it when she chose a movie she knew didn't interest him especially after the conversation they'd had about how Chad and Taylor behaved in movies. However she wasn't about to give in and let him know he was affecting her. They were going to watch this movie right to the very end. In the mean time it was time for a little payback. Gabriella moved her hand to Troy's thigh squeezing gently, giggling when Troy jumped.

Troy glanced at Gabriella who looked like she was concentrating on the movie but the corners of her mouth were turned up in a sly little smile.

The two continued their game of trying to drive the other crazy without thinking of the consequences. Luckily for them Jack and Lucille were both tired after a busy week and went up to bed before things got too out of hand.

By the time the movie ended Troy was almost painfully hard and Gabriella was equally turned on. The minute the credits started to roll Troy pushed Gabriella down onto the couch lying full length on top of her and kissed her passionately.

Gabriella moaned thrusting her hips up against him moving her hands up his back under his shirt.

Troy rocked his hips before realising where they were and that as willing as Gabriella was at this moment she would never forgive him for pushing her to make love in the lounge room while his parents were in the house and could walk in at any moment. He pushed back abruptly standing up and taking Gabriella's hands to pull her up with him.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy as soon as she was standing pulling his head down to resume their kiss.

Troy tried to pull away again but Gabriella wouldn't let him. He thought for a moment, down here his parents could walk in, in their room his parents were on the other side of the wall and would definitely hear them. If they went somewhere in his truck his parents would hear them leave and worry. He picked Gabriella up and carried her out the door to the back patio and down the back yard.

"Put me down Troy. Where are we going?" Gabriella whispered, careful not to make too much noise.

"Gabriella we can't make love on the couch. Mom or Dad could come down, and I know you don't feel comfortable with them hearing us.

"So where are we going to go? We can't make love out here in the open."

"Up there" Troy said pointing to the tree house.

"The tree house?"

"It's that or a cold shower" Troy said pragmatically. "I will if you want me to" he added prepared for Gabriella to decide she didn't want to have sex outside.

"I don't suppose there's anything to lie on?" Gabriella asked.

"I tried to hand the hammock in there but it didn't fit. But I did leave some blankets and an old pillow up there" Troy replied.

"Just in case?" Gabriella teased.

"Well I will admit I've thought about it" Troy said self-consciously.

"Well I'm making no promises how far I'll feel comfortable going but let's go" Gabriella said starting to climb the ladder.

Troy grinned and followed her up regretting that she wasn't wearing a dress not only for the view their current position would provide him but also because he truly doubted Gabriella would take her jeans off outside.

Troy turned on the battery operated lantern, spread out the thickest blanket over the wooden floor leaving the thinner blanket to cover them with and sat on the floor leaning up against the wall.

Disappointingly Gabriella sat beside him instead of on his lap but Troy turned to her and smiled before softly kissing her lips waiting for her to make the next move.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around him "I love you Troy" she said returning his kisses with interest.

Troy decided to go for it and moving his hands to her waist slowly pushed her shirt upwards before lifting it over her head. He unclasped her bra and removed it then picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders noticing her start to shiver. He drew her close and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you warm enough?" he asked concerned.

"I am now" Gabriella replied pulling at Troy's shirt until he let her go so she could remove it. She then cuddled up to him running her hands down his back pushing at the waistband of his sweats. Troy returned the favour by unbuttoning Gabriella's jeans as he kicked off his shoes preparation for taking off his pants and was delighted to see Gabriella kicking off hers as well. He stood up and Gabriella pulled his sweat pants and boxers off leaving him standing nude in the cold night air.

Troy shivered a little "It is a little cold" he said giving Gabriella an excuse to back out, sitting back down and wrapping his arms around Gabriella.

"It's warm enough under the blanket" Gabriela replied covering Troy with it before standing up and shimmying out of her jeans.

Troy lifted the edge of the blanket invitingly and she hurried back underneath. "In all your planning did you happen to remember the condoms?" she asked teasingly.

-oOo-

A/N: Thank you to Ceciliaa93, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Boris Yeltsin, Kiara and allbecauseoflove for your support.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy nodded and pointed to the waterproof bag he'd taken the blankets from. "There's a box in there."

"A whole box?" Gabriella asked teasingly "Isn't that a little too hopeful?"

Troy laughed. "No the Box the blankets came from is an easy way to store things to take them out to the truck when we wanted them without Mom and Dad knowing. It's been up here for months. The plastic keeps them from getting damp.

"I wondered where you were keeping these" Gabriella said smiling.

"Well it's a bit obvious what we're planning if we leave for a date with blankets, and they'd be in the way if we keep them in the truck always" Troy said smirking.

Gabriella blushed at the idea of Jack and Lucille watching them pack the blankets and condoms when they went on a date.

They cuddled up Troy's hands rubbing up and down Gabriella's back and bottom as Gabriella drew idle patterns with a finger on his biceps. The urgency they felt earlier that had led them outside in the first place seemed to have dissipated.

"I'm really going to miss this" Troy commented.

"Being naked in your tree house?" Gabriella teased.

"No cuddling up together like this" Troy responded seriously.

"Yeah I will too. But your Mom and Dad offered to pay for me to fly back for Prom so it will only be twelve days until I'm home again" Gabriella reassured him.

Troy grinned, he'd spent part of his afternoon on the phone setting up a visit to Berkeley and the housing officer at Hayward for next Friday so he would arrive at Stanford to surprise her in only her five days after she left to stay the weekend with her.

To stop himself from giving away his secret he dipped his head and started kissing her neck.

Gabriella shivered in response and angled her neck to give him better access. He brought his hands around to cup her breasts rubbing his thumbs across her nipples. Gabriella arched her back bringing her hands up to pull Troy into a kiss. Troy kissed her enthusiastically rolling so he was lying on his back with Gabriella sprawled on top of him.

"Ever the gentleman" Gabriella quipped "protecting me from the hard floor."

Troy laughed and ran his hands down Gabriella's sides pushing her panties down. Gabriella squirmed a little pushing them the rest of the way down herself before reaching for a condom.

She carefully rolled it into place and positioned herself over him lowering herself slowly leaning down to kiss Troy.

Troy started thrusting up the hard floor and small room giving him much less space to move than normal. Gabriella sat up the blanket falling off her shoulders no longer noticing the cold.

After their evening teasing each other Troy was very close to coming almost immediately. He reached to stimulate Gabriella's with his fingers as he fought desperately for control hoping t last long enough for Gabriella to orgasm with him. He was barely successful, the first tightening of her inner walls finished him off and he was already starting to soften inside her when Gabriella's climax hit its peak. He hoped that she wasn't disappointed with him.

Gabriella collapsed on his chest panting and Troy pulled the blanket back over them both and wrapped his arms around her.

"We should go inside to bed" Troy said after a while.

"Hmm comfy here" Gabriella grumbled sleepily.

"We can't stay out here Gabriella. Dad will freak in the morning when he finds us missing" Troy reminded her.

He rolled over carefully and got up covering her with the blanket as he hastily pulled on his clothes and collected Gabriella's for her.

"Gabi please you need to get up and get dressed" Troy entreated.

Gabriella ignored him snuggling further into the blanket.

"Gabriella even if I wanted to I don't think I could carry you down the ladder safely and I'm sure you don't want me to carry you across the yard and through the house naked" Troy said firmly.

Gabriella rolled on her back and glared at him. Undeterred Troy pulled the blanket down to her waist and put her T-shirt over her head.

Gabriella sighed and started to dress "Way to ruin the mood Troy" she grumbled.

Sorry Gabriella but that floor is really hard and I was getting cold. Let's go inside and we can cuddle up in bed" Troy said apologetically as he tied his shoes.  
Knowing Gabriella was still sleepy Troy went down the ladder first and stood at the bottom ready to catch her if he needed to. He slung his arm around her shoulders when she reached the ground and led her inside and up to their room.

Gabriella was up packing by the time Troy got back from running the next morning. Troy came in and kissed her cheek on his way to the shower.

"Eww Troy go shower up before you do that" Gabriella complained wiping her face.

Troy grinned "see you soon" he called as he left the room.

Ten minutes later he was back trying to hug her wrapped in a towel still dripping wet.

"Troy" Gabriella protested grabbing the towel from around his waist and drying herself off.

Troy quickly pushed the door shut and grabbed the towel back starting to dry himself.

"What's got in to you?" Gabriella asked.

Troy shrugged "I'm going to miss you so much. Part of me wants to hold you tight and not let you go"

Gabriella hugged him "I love you too Troy and I will miss you just as much as you miss me" she said kissing him lightly. "Now let me get organised so I can spend the rest of the day with you."

"Do you want some help?" Troy offered.

"Okay but don't you want to get dressed first?" Gabriella asked.

Troy looked down at himself and grinned sheepishly. "Don't you want to enjoy the view?" he teased.

Gabriella laughed. "You're gorgeous and well you know it but I'm not sure your Mom and Dad would appreciate it" she said.

Troy laughed too but hurried to get dressed. "Have you eaten?"

"No I wanted to wait and eat with you" Gabriella replied.

"Let's go. I'll help you finish this later" Troy said encouraging her to come down and eat.

Gabriella knowing Troy's appetite grinned and followed him downstairs.

Troy kept his promise to help Gabriella pack and they quickly had everything organised. "What do you want to do today?" he asked.

Gabriella looked hesitant "I promise Alejandro I'd call in today sometime" she said.

"Do you want to go now and get it over with?" Troy asked.

"Thankyou" Gabriella said smiling at her husband.

"Did you call him about the program before you made up your mind? Troy asked curiously.

"I tried. You know how he is. He was out of the country on business and I couldn't get passed his secretary and he didn't return my call" Gabriella said frustrated.

"It's possible he never even got the message. That woman is way too over protective. I thought it would be better now that she knows who you are" Troy commented.

"Alejandro says he's given her a standing order to put me straight through to him whenever I call but it isn't helping" Gabriella huffed. She rang Alejandro's number to check he was home before driving over there and this time he answered himself.

"Alejandro Montez"

"Hi Alejandro, it's Gabriella"

Alejandro frowned at his daughter's use of his name but knowing that complaining would not achieve anything replied peaceably "Hello Gabriella I hope you're not calling to cancel our meeting today."

"No just checking you were home before we came by" Gabriella reassured him.

"I will be here until three. I have a charity event to attend in New York. You could come as my plus one if you'd like. Troy could come with us and wait in the hotel if you don't want to come to New York on your own." Alejandro offered making it clear that the invitation wasn't being limited by him but rather the situation.

Gabriella laughed. "No thanks I can't. I'm leaving for California at ten Sunday morning for the freshman honours program."

"Freshman honours program?" Alejandro queried.

"It's a three week program at Stanford. It starts on Monday" Gabriella explained.

"Is Troy going with you?" Alejandro asked.

"No I'm staying on campus. It's only three weeks. And from the course description I'll be very busy" Gabriella said carefully keeping her voice cheerful. "So do you have time to meet me this morning?"

"Yes Gabriella do you want to come by the house or would you like to meet at Starbucks?" Alejandro asked.

"Umm Starbucks" Gabriella replied. "What time?"

"Half an hour?" Alejandro suggested.

Gabriella looked at Troy who nodded. "Sure. See you there" she said ending the call abruptly.

A/N: Thank you to Ceciliaa93, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, iminlove13, old voldys gone moldy, Kiara and Cimorellilovers for your support.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Alejandro was waiting at the counter for his drink when Troy and Gabriella entered so he added their drinks to his order and they went through to find a table.

"Hello Gabriella, Troy" he said again as he brought the drinks over to the table.

"Hi Alejandro" Troy replied.

"Hello" Gabriella answered.

"So tell me more about this Honours program?" Alejandro asked to start the conversation.

"I read about it before I applied to Stanford and applied back in September but I'd forgotten all about it. They take thirty students from next year's Freshman class and invite them to attend. It involves three weeks of classes now a literature review first semester and a research project due in at the end of the year" Gabriella explained.

"And when did you find out about it?" Alejandro asked wondering why he hadn't heard about it before.

Gabriella sighed, "The letter arrived on Wednesday"

"That's very short notice" Alejandro commented.

"Well yes. But I did know I'd applied for the program and as Troy pointed out as a recipient of a full academic scholarship I should have expected to receive an invitation to the honours program" Gabriella said defending the late notice though she'd been upset about it herself.

Alejandro nodded "And will you come back to Albuquerque after the three weeks or are you moving to California now?"

"I'll come back here for Graduation. I want to spend some time with Mom and there is another program I applied to do at Stanford later in the summer but I won't find out about that for another couple of weeks" Gabriella said.

"And what about you Troy? What are your summer plans?" Alejandro asked.

"Well I'll go to visit Maria with Gabriella but other than that I hope to get a job. If Gabriella does end up moving to California early to attend another program I'll probably go with her" Troy said cheerfully.

"I could offer you both a job working for me for the summer" Alejandro said carefully not wanting to make them think he was trying to control their lives.

"Here in Albuquerque?" Gabriella demanded.

"Yes if that's what you wanted" Alejandro agreed though that hadn't been his original plan.

"That's a fine offer sir. What would we be doing?" Troy asked politely, not sure that he wanted to put himself in a position where his father-in-law was his boss.

"The company offers several internships each summer. I'm sure we could find you something you will enjoy doing" Alejandro said smoothly.

Troy was hesitant to accept fearing it would end up being an attempt to separate he and Gabriella. "May we think about it sir"

"Certainly Troy" Alejandro replied agreeably.

"Now I haven't heard from you in a couple of weeks how have you been?" Alejandro asked Gabriella.

Gabriella frowned "I tried to call you on Wednesday and again twice on Thursday. I asked your secretary to ask you to call me back" she said bluntly.

Alejandro frowned too "I promise you Gabriella that I did not receive any message from you. I will get to the bottom of this" he then smiled darkly "It seems I have an opening for a new secretary and personal assistant if you would like to try that over the summer and see what I do. There is a fair amount of travelling involved though"

"I don't have any of the skills or experience you need in a personal assistant" Gabriella said incredulously. "Besides I won't be available all of the summer so you'd be better off getting a permanent replacement as quickly as possible instead of letting me play at it for a while."

"Yes you're probably right but I would like to have you with me for the summer and that seemed to be the only way I would actually get to spend a decent amount of time with you" Alejandro conceded.

"Are you going to stay in Albuquerque next year?" Gabriella asked.

"No I thought about relocating to Los Angeles but to be honest the time difference there would cause more problems than being here does. I will move back to New York once you move to California" Alejandro replied. "Maybe you can visit me there."

"If we have time" Gabriella replied noncommittally.

"You didn't tell me about your week" Alejandro reminded her.

"Well it's been pretty much overshadowed by the offer for the Freshman honours program. I had to decide if I really wanted to go and work out what I needed to take and finish up all of my school and correspondence assignments early so that my grade point average isn't affected. My friend Taylor's having a going away party for me tonight" Gabriella replied avoiding mentioning the misunderstanding she and Troy had recently sorted out both because it was no longer relevant and because she didn't want to give her father any ammunition if he was still planning to separate Troy and her.

"And you Troy what have you been doing while Gabriella's been so busy" Alejandro asked.

"Well, official training has cut back a bit now that the season's over but Dad's still pushing me to increase my fitness so I can cope with stepping up to college level basketball. And the teacher's who gave me a bit of a break with assignments during the season have piled on the work to make up for it" Troy answered sipping his drink.

"What about you, you said you'd been out of the country?" Gabriella enquired trying to change the subject having had enough of being interrogated.

"I have been in London and then spent the weekend visiting my family. They wish to meet you" Alejandro said.

"Travel between America and Cuba is restricted" Gabriella reminded him.

"Exceptions can be made" Alejandro refuted.

"And records of those exceptions will be kept" Gabriella argued.

"You have family in Cuba. You have a valid reason to visit. My mother is too frail to visit America" Alejandro stated.

"I will consider it" Gabriella said finishing her drink and standing up to leave.

Troy gulped down the last of his drink and standing shook Alejandro's hand and escorted Gabriella from the Cafe.

"Oh he makes me so mad sometimes" Gabriella seethed.

"He is certainly determined. Maybe we should stop evading the question and tell him straight out that we won't go to Cuba with him because we don't trust him enough" Troy suggested.

"I don't want to hurt him like that. I think he does just want us to visit his family" Gabriella said uncertainly.

"So you want to go?" Troy asked.

"I don't know but I promised Mom that I wouldn't go without her" Gabriella answered frustrated.

"Well maybe you should tell Alejandro that" Troy said pragmatically.

Gabriella laughed cynically "Yeah sure"

"It might cause problems between him and Maria but it'd get him off your back about it. Your Mom can handle him Gabriella" Troy said encouragingly.

"Hmm" Gabriella replied not showing her thoughts on the matter.

"I'm hungry. You want to go somewhere for lunch?" Troy offered.

"I'd rather go back home. I'm going to be living on Caf food for the next three weeks" Gabriella replied.

"I'm sure Mom would be happy to make you whatever you would like" Troy said agreeably.

"You don't mind?" Gabriella asked uncertainly.

"Of course not Gabriella" he reassured.

"I thought you'd want..." Gabriella began.

"...to spend the day with you" Troy finished her sentence smiling. "I am."

They climbed in to the truck and Troy drove home. "So what do you want for lunch?"

"I don't know whatever Lucille decides to cook is fine"

Gabriella ended up helping Lucille cook lunch and receiving another cooking lesson while Jack and Troy played one on one on their court outside.

"I see you and Troy sorted out your misunderstanding" Lucille commented cheerfully.

"It pretty much sorted itself out once we found time to actually talk to each other" Gabriella admitted.

"It's often the small misunderstandings that can cause big problems if left to fester" Lucille agreed.

"I'll remember that" Gabriella said smiling.

"So Taylor invited Jack and I to your party tonight" Lucille said casually.

"Are you going to come?" Gabriella asked.

"Not unless you want us too. Taylor did say that we were the only parents invited and it is only a small party. I think we'd be more of a dampener on the celebrations" Lucille replied.

Gabriella felt awkward she didn't want to tell Lucille that she didn't want her to come to the party but she also didn't want Jack and Lucille to waste their time if they didn't want to come when she didn't need them to be there.

"You're very welcome if you'd like to come" she replied diffidently.

"But you don't really care if we're there or not?" Lucille stated enquiringly.

"I don't think I need you to be there if that's what you're asking" Gabriella confirmed.

"Well if you change your mind at any time we're only a phone call away" Lucille promised. "We don't have any plans tonight."

"Thanks Lucille" Gabriella said giving her mother-in-law a quick hug.

Lucille went to call her husband and son in for lunch as Gabriella carried the food through to the table.

A/N: Thankyou to Ceciliaa93, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and Romantic Journalist for your support.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Conversation was kept light over lunch until Gabriella told the elder Bolton's about coffee with Alejandro and his job offer for the summer.

"Do you want to accept a job with him?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure. The job he offered would involve travelling with him and I'm still not certain I trust him enough to get on his private plane" Gabriella explained her reservations. "On the other hand he'd probably pay more than we could earn anywhere else."

"Has he said or done anything lately that would make you doubt him?" Lucille asked.

Gabriella shrugged "He makes a lot of offers for me to go to New York or other places with him but that might be just because all the travel is a normal part of his life" she replied thoughtfully. "He offered to take me to a charity ball in New York tonight."

"That could have been a terrific experience" Lucille commented.

"And it was a legitimate invitation for me alone. I would have been Alejandro's 'plus one' Troy couldn't come" Gabriella retorted.

"Have you talked about this with Maria?" Jack asked.

"I mentioned it to her a while back" Gabriella replied "but we haven't spoken about him lately. Mom made it clear to him before she left that she didn't want me to go to Cuba without her."

"Well you'll be too busy with school for any trips for the time being" Lucille said comfortingly.

"I guess we'll find out if he is still trying to get you alone for some reason. He knows I'm not coming to Stanford with you" Troy said worriedly.

"I'll keep my eyes open for anything suspicious. My class schedule is pretty full and there are no elective choices so the same people will be in every class. I already have photos of them all on my computer so anyone else hanging about should be easy to spot." Gabriella tried to reassure him.

"What have you two got planned for the afternoon?" Jack asked trying to change the subject before Troy got too worried to let Gabriella go to California on her own.

"I don't know we're just going to hang out" Gabriella replied.

"Well I have a stack of paperwork a mile high so I will have to go in to work for a while" Lucille said kicking Jack under the table.

Jack looked at her and she glanced at the young couple and back at Jack.

After a moment Jack got what his wife was trying to tell him and made his excuses. "I made plans with Bob and Dan to watch the game with them" Jack said looking at his watch. "I better go or I'll miss the start." He got up and hurried out to his car.

Troy grinned having noticed the kick and his parent's silent communication, and knowing from conversation while they were playing basketball earlier that his father had not had plans for the afternoon. However if his mother was going to clear the house for he and Gabriella to spend some time alone he wasn't going to question it.

"We'll clean up here then so you can get going Mom" Troy offered.

"You don't need to do that. I'll wash up before I go. Enjoy your last day together Troy. You can make up the chores tomorrow" Lucille said smiling at his offer.

"Thanks Mom" he said returning the smile. "What do you want to do this afternoon?" he asked Gabriella.

"I want to check over my list again, make sure I haven't forgotten to pack anything important" Gabriella said.

Troy grinned knowingly "Do you want some help?" he offered.

"Sure two heads are better than one." She handed Troy a notepad and pen "Write a list of everything you think you would need to spend three weeks at Berkeley" she instructed. "Be as specific as possible"

"Okay" Troy said starting to write down items.

"What's this for?" Troy asked as he finished.

"Well I know I've packed everything on my list. But I still feel that I've forgotten something. You're more likely to think of it making your own list than if you read mine and tried to notice what I haven't put down" Gabriella explained taking his list and reading through it. "No other than Basketball gear there's nothing on your list that I haven't already packed" she said sighing.

"Why do you think you've forgotten something?" Troy asked. "You're the most organised person I know and you have more experience with packing than anyone, you never forget to pack stuff."

"I know but it just doesn't feel right"

Troy thought for a moment "I know what it is" he exclaimed. "This is the first time you've not packed for anyone else as well. The last couple of times you've packed for me too and before that you always helped your mom."

Gabriella smiled "You might be right" she agreed.

"So what do you want to do this afternoon?" Troy asked. "Is there anything else you need to buy or do before you go?"

"No I have everything I just need to say goodbye to everyone but I'll see them tonight" Gabriella replied.

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and kissed her lightly at first, deepening the kiss when Gabriella responded.

Gabriella threaded her fingers through Troy's hair, he needed a haircut but she loved playing with the longer strands, feeling Troy's hands move down to cup her bum she held tightly to his shoulders and lifted her legs to wrap them around Troy's waist.

Troy grunted at the sudden extra weight and nearly stumbled before he managed to steady himself. Walking slowly still kissing passionately he backed Gabriella up against the nearest wall so that she wouldn't be hurt if he lost his balance.

Gabriella drew back breaking the kiss and gasping for breath. Troy also breathing heavily started to plant light kisses along her jaw and down her throat. Using his hands to lift her slightly he buried his face in her cleavage kissing amd sucking lightly.

"Careful where you leave marks Troy" Gabriella warned.

Troy raised his head to grin at her "Does that mean I can leave marks other places" he asked cheekily.

Gabriella laughed "Yes so long as I can keep them covered up without too much trouble" she agreed.

Troy began trying to unbutton her blouse with his teeth, not very successfully.

Gabriella laughed at him before tightening one arm around his shoulders so she could use the other hand to unbutton it herself for him. She was wearing a front opening bra and undid that clasp for him as well not wanting to risk Troy tearing the fragile lace.

"Thank you" Troy muttered looking at her admiringly before nudging the bra out of the way with his chin.

Gabriella giggled as his whiskers tickled her "you need to shave" she commented.

"Did I scratch you?" Troy asked worriedly.

"No it's fine Troy" Gabriella reassured.

"Do you want me to stop and shave?" he asked.

"Maybe later" Gabriella replied grinding herself against him.

Troy took the hint and returned to worshipping Gabriella's breasts, gently biting and sucking the underside where the marks wouldn't be seen.

Gabriella arched her back moaning her appreciation of his actions.

Troy continued his ministrations until Gabriella thought she was about to come from the stimulation to her breasts alone. She started pulling at Troy's clothes trying to remove them. "Troy please" she begged incoherently.

Troy walked across to the bed and gently laid Gabriella down before removing her jeans and panties. Crawling over her he returned to kissing her breasts while his hand moved slowly down her stomach to tangle in the curls down there still teasingly stopping just short of where Gabriella wanted and needed them to be.

Gabriella thrust her hips upwards trying to force Troy to touch her core. "Troy" she all but wailed when this didn't work.

Troy grinned "Tell me what you want" he demanded. He loved it when she begged like this.

"Fuck me Troy. Please... fingers tongue penis I don't care I need you inside me NOW" she pleaded.

Troy scooted down the bed and fastened his mouth over her clitoris while thrusting two fingers inside. Gabriella immediately orgasmed allowing Troy time to withdraw and undress himself, he quickly rolled a condom in place and buried himself inside Gabriella. She came again screaming his name.

Catching her breath she smiled. "I love you Troy" she said to the man who appeared to be sleeping next to her.

To her surprise he answered "Love you too Gabriella" opening his eyes and smiling sleepily.

"I seem to have worn you out" she teased. "What would coach say if he knew your endurance was so..."  
she broke off what she was saying to shriek with laughter as Troy began tickling her.

"I could go another round or two if you want" Troy offered. "But you've got a party to go to tonight."

"Do you have homework you need to do?" Gabriella asked.

"I'll do it tomorrow when I get back from the airport" Troy replied dismissingly.

"Promise you won't start slacking off because I'm not here" Gabriella demanded.

"I promise Gabriella" Troy said agreeably.

"I mean it Troy if I get back and find you've let your grades slip I will be very disappointed." Gabriella said firmly feeling he had promised just to placate her without meaning it.

"Gabriella my grades this semester are heaps better than they've ever been. I won't let that slip" Troy said seriously.

They lay there cuddling not talking about anything serious for a couple of hours.

A/N: Thankyou to Ceciliaa93, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and Kiara for your support.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: I mean no disrespect to anybody living in any of the cities mentioned. I have never visited any of them and they were selected randomly for their relative distances apart.

"We should get up. We don't want to be late to Taylor's party" Troy said looking at the clock.

"Hmm Yeah" Gabriella said unenthusiastically.

"Why'd you agree to a party if you're feeling like this about it?" Troy asked curiously.

"When was the last time anyone actually succeeded in talking Taylor out of doing something once she'd decided to?" Gabriella asked dryly.

Troy chuckled "You have a point. But did you explain to her why you didn't want a party?"

Gabriella thought for a moment "No I don't think I did" she said surprised at that. "I told her I didn't want a party while we were having problems but I didn't talk about the other reasons."

"Then Taylor's expecting you to enjoy this party" Troy said concernedly.

Gabriella sighed "Yes. Hopefully it won't remind me of previous going away parties too much and I'll be able to enjoy it" she said concerned. "I don't want to disappoint her."

"It's not a going away party because you'll be back in a couple of weeks. It's a celebration of getting into the Honours program" Troy commented.

"Yeah and I'm not so thrilled about that either I hate being singled out like that" Gabriella retorted.

"I know that in the past being smarter than everyone else has caused problems for you but the friends that'll be there tonight don't care about that" Troy reassured her. "They just want to celebrate because you achieved something, just as we celebrated when I signed up with Berkeley. They are happy for you Gabi."

"Yeah I know" Gabriella agreed.

"Now come on Taylor will be mad if we're late" Troy encouraged knowing he'd bear the brunt of Taylor's disapproval if they weren't on time. He pulled her out of bed and went to drag Gabriella along to the bathroom to shower.

"Troy no! Your parents might be home by now. We can't just walk down the passage naked" she protested.

Troy grinned but let her go "You have the first shower then" he offered flopping back on the bed as she shrugged on her bathrobe.

Troy and Gabriella arrived at Taylor's a little late. Neither were feeling in a party mood but thankfully Taylor had listened to Gabriella when she insisted that she didn't want a big party (not that her mother would have let her have one) so it was just their closest friends and Rachel and Elliot the other seniors on the scholastic decathlon team.

Chad immediately dragged Troy outside. "How you handling this?" he asked.

Troy smiled "I'm okay Chad. It's only two weeks until Gabriella will be back for the weekend for Prom."

"You nearly went nuts without her for five days over spring break. And now you're cool with her going away for three weeks?" Chad asked in disbelief.

"I have to be. Gabriella needs to take this opportunity. It would be selfish not to encourage her to go" Troy responded determinedly.

"I'll be here for you Man" Chad said supportively clapping Troy on the shoulder.

"Thanks Man" Troy replied smiling at his brother in all but blood.

In the meantime Taylor was scolding Gabriella for not showing more excitement. "Getting into the freshman honours program is huge. How can you be so apathetic about such a wonderful opportunity?"

"Tay give me a break. I'm going to do the honours program" Gabriella replied frustrated.

"What's wrong Honey" Taylor asked seeing her friend really was more than just unenthusiastic about going to Stanford for the three week program. "Are you and Troy still having problems?"

"No we sorted out what was wrong. Things are great between us except for the fact that I'm leaving tomorrow and I'll miss him" Gabriella replied.

"You are a strong woman you don't need Troy to help you do this" Taylor retorted.

"I know I can do this, and I know I will have Troy's support every step of the way even if I'm in California and he's here at home. It's not that I just don't want to be apart."

"You spend too much time attached at the hip it will do you good to spend some time apart" Taylor told Gabriella firmly.

"No we don't. You're talking like we don't have any of our own interests. I have scholastic decathlon, yearbook committee, science club and I hang out with you" Gabriella said upset that her friend would think that.

"Let's think about that Scholastic decathlon, Troy's been at every single competition, we meet for practice at his house for goodness sake. Yearbook committee and science club both mostly meet while Troy's at basketball practice and when he's not he's there to pick you up. Yeah you still hang out with us both with the guys and by ourselves but last time we had a girls sleepover was because Troy was away playing basketball" Taylor replied sardonically.

"I'm sorry if you feel I haven't been spending enough time with you" Gabriella said quietly.

"No it's not that. I understand you spend as much time with me as you can and I've been busy too. I'm just pointing out that no matter what you're doing Troy's there. And next year you'll be at different colleges and he won't be able to be there in the background all the time like he is now. This will be a really good opportunity for you to make some new friends and learn to depend on yourself again" Taylor explained.

"I know that isn't going to stop me from missing him" Gabriella said ruefully.

Taylor laughed "I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you even if you rang him a dozen times a day."

Gabriella laughed and agreed.

"Let's get back to the party" Taylor said enthusiastically.

"Sure" Gabriella said getting up.

Taylor looked at Gabriella noticing that she seemed to be bracing herself for an ordeal instead of an evening with her friends. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine" Gabriella said smiling determinedly.

"You don't look like you want to be here. Now you've said you and Troy aren't having problems so is there something else going on?" Taylor asked.

"No everything is fine.

Taylor looked searchingly at Gabriella's expression. "You aren't really wanting to go back in there to the party are you?" she asked.

"I just hate being the centre of attention" Gabriella said trying to make excuses.

"Gabriella" Taylor said demandingly.

Gabriella sighed not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings or seem ungrateful. "You're right I didn't want a party. I blamed it on what was going on with me and Troy. I should have been more explicit so you didn't think it'd be different now Troy and I sorted things out" she said quietly.

"So Kelsi was right. She said you didn't want a party because it would be too much like all the other going away parties you've had in the past" Taylor said. "I'm sorry. She did try to warn me I should have listened to her."

"That's very perceptive of her" Gabriella admitted.

"I'm sorry I pushed you into this" Taylor apologised.

Gabriella sighed again. "It's okay I know you were just excited for me" she reassured her friend.

"Remember this really isn't a going away party you'll be back in three weeks" Taylor reminded her

"Yes but we all will be leaving before long" Gabriella said quietly.

"That still won't be the same as before. Albuquerque will always be your home now. You'll always have friends to come back to. And Troy will be with you in California" Taylor reassured her.

"I keep telling myself that but it just feels like all the other times I've moved. Everyone always says they will keep in contact and we will be friends forever but mostly after a few weeks we have nothing to talk about. They don't know any of the people I've met and hearing about other friends I'll never see again that have stopped calling hurts too much so I stop calling them" Gabriella explained.

"Have you tried going back anywhere for a visit?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah at the start of Sophomore year we moved to St Paul just outside of Minneapolis and I made a couple of what I thought at the time were good friends, we lived there until February when we moved to Winnipeg for a couple of months and then as soon as school broke up we moved again to Chicago. We always knew that Winnipeg was a fixed time contract, Mom was filling in for someone. Mom promised me that as soon as we finished in Winnipeg we'd go back to St Paul for a holiday. So she and I spent four days in St Paul on our way to Chicago but it was really awkward. Some of the people I'd thought were my friends didn't even recognise me when I met them in the street and everybody was busy doing their own thing. I'd only been gone four months and I'd tried hard to keep in touch because I knew we'd be going back to visit but it still didn't work out. The worst thing was my best friend Isobelle had become popular since we moved and didn't want to be seen with geeky Gabriella. We'd been planning to stay a couple of weeks but..." She broke off and shrugged not knowing how to explain the hurt and the hopelessness she'd felt. "I didn't even try to make friends in Chicago though I had thought we'd be there the whole year" she added.

Taylor hugged her best friend tightly horrified that she'd had to go through that. "That's quite ironic considering that most of your friends in Albuquerque became popular because of you" she said.

Gabriella laughed a little sadly.

"The point is Gabriella that we're not that bunch of jerks that did that to you. It won't happen again. In three months we'll all be at different colleges. We will all be the new kids in a strange place and the friends we left behind will be part of our support system. I've never had a friend like you and I promise you no matter where we end up living I will always be your friend. And I'll always need you to be my friend" Taylor said earnestly.

Gabriella returned the hug "I always will be your friend" she said. "Let's get back and enjoy the party"

Troy had stayed within earshot of the girls' conversation, though Taylor didn't realise that, and hurried over to hug Gabriella as soon as Taylor moved away. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine Troy" she answered with a small smile.

"Ready to party?" he asked.

Gabriella pasted a bigger but less genuine smile "Absolutely" she declared hooking her arm through Troy's and walking over to greet Kelsi and Martha.

"Hi Guys. This is amazing did you help set this up?" she asked enthusiastically.

A/N2: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, old voldys gone moldy, kiara, iminlove13, and arrianne for your support.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Yeah we were here setting up yesterday when you rang and we said we were at the movies" Kelsi admitted sheepishly.

Gabriella laughed. "Then I guess it's a good thing we were feeling too lazy to come down to the cinema to meet you then" she said.

Kelsi Laughed too "Yeah that could have been awkward" she agreed.

Troy wandered off toward the snack table and came back with a plateful. "Would you like something to eat?" he said offering her the plate.

"No thanks Troy" Gabriella declined smiling.

"Kelsi, Martha" he offered.

"Thanks Troy" they said each taking a pastry.

"Don't fill up too much the pizza will be here soon" Taylor warned them.

"Cool" Troy replied happily eating his appetizers.

Gabriella laughed at him and he pulled a face back at her. "Hey I can't help it if I'm hungry" he said.

"Where are the other boys?" Martha asked looking around and noticing Troy was the only make in the room.

"Zeke's in the kitchen, Ryan's not here yet, Chad and Jason are outside playing ball and the others are out watching them" Taylor answered. "Rachel's out there with them" she added.

"Perhaps we should go out and be sociable" Gabriella suggested. "She can't be feeling very comfortable out there alone with the boys. She doesn't really know them." Rachel was a new student this year and while part of the science club and the scholastic decathlon team had not made much effort to socialise with other students and none of them knew her well.

"Elliot's outside as well" Taylor said.

"Somehow I don't think that'd help much" Martha said. Elliot was extremely shy in social situations. He held his own easily enough in scholastic decathlon meets. And chatted away happily enough at practices but without work in front of him had trouble initiating conversations.

They headed outside Troy detouring via the food table to refill his plate which he then promptly abandoned to play a modified Basketball game with the boys (the McKessie house not having a basketball hoop).

Gabriella left holding the plate of food offered it around the spectators before helping herself to the last sausage roll. Troy saw her eating, holding the now empty plate, and grinned at her.

"I thought he'd be upset we ate his food" Rachel commented.

Gabriella laughed "He loves to see me eat. I swear if I ate everything he wanted me to I'd weigh 300 pounds" she said shaking her head ruefully.

"You should know by now that Troy's almost never upset by anything Gabriella does" Martha teased.

"That's not true" Gabriella protested.

"You must admit the man's besotted" Taylor retorted.

Kelsi just smiled "The two of you are so sweet together" she said.

Dana McKessie came out the back door and swiftly stepped to the side out of the way of the door "The pizza's here" she said.

Basketball forsaken the boys lead by Chad ran towards the door making Dana's odd side step suddenly make sense to the scholastic decathlon team who didn't know the Basketball team well.

The girls laughed ruefully and followed them in leaving Rachel and Elliot shaking their heads in shock.

Dana looked over at them "You get used to it" she said laughing "but you better get in there before the pizza's all gone."

They walked in and looked at the stack of pizza boxes "You can't be serious?" Rachel exclaimed.

"One thing I've learned since Taylor started dating Chad. Never underestimate the amount a teenage basketball player can eat" Dana said dryly.

Gabriella hearing her laughed. "It shocked Mom at first too" she agreed. "Come and eat. Just be sure not to get between Chad or Troy and the last piece" she warned.

Dana let Ryan in and he hurried to sit down and help himself to the pizza. "Hey everyone. Sorry I'm late Gabriella"

"Hey Ryan" Gabriella greeted.

Quiet descended as the boys were busy eating. Rachel and Elliot sat between Martha and Ryan who tried to make sure they felt included by passing them pizza and encouraging them to eat.

Pizza was followed by Zeke's cookies and cake and everyone ate more than was comfortable. Taylor, Martha and Kelsi helped Dana clean up and Chad took the empty pizza boxes out to the trash. The others headed in to the lounge.

After an aborted attempt to get people up dancing or playing sing star the group sat around on the couches. "We should play a game" Chad announced.

"Yeah truth or dare" Jason suggested.

The others groaned. "I think we've grown out of that" Taylor argued.

Gabriella looked at Troy who grinned at her and shook his head. He enjoyed the game with his cousins but definitely didn't want to play it here.

"What about a board game I'm sure the McKessies have monopoly or scrabble" Rachel from the scholastic decathlon team suggested.

"There's no way I'm playing scrabble with you lot" Chad protested knowing how competitive his girlfriend could be over board games.

"What about charades" Ryan suggested.

"Let's play some two on two?" Chad countered.

"None of us are dressed to play Basketball Chad" Gabriella said gesturing to the other girls.

"And no we don't want to sit and watch you play" Taylor added firmly.

"What do you guys normally do at parties?" Elliot asked not having been to any of the same parties as the basketball team before.

"Beer pong" Chad said quietly so Dana wouldn't hear. "Jelly shots" Jason added enthusiastically.

"Loud music and drunken dancing" Gabriella added dryly.

"Sounds like a real blast" Rachel said sarcastically.

"It can be" Martha retorted.

"How about we watch a movie" Kelsi interrupted before it could escalate into an argument.

"Maybe this whole party was a bad idea" Taylor said dejectedly.

"No it wasn't Taylor it was a lovely idea to throw me a celebration party. I'm sorry I wasn't more enthusiastic about it from the start" Gabriella said apologetically. "I'm really nervous about going to Stanford tomorrow. I've started far too many new schools but I've always had my Mom for support before and I've never had to leave friends as good as you guys. Throw in all the extra stuff this week and I just wasn't in the mood to celebrate. I'm sorry for ruining your party."

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and kissed her forehead in silent support.

"It's not your fault Gabriella I should have listened when you said you didn't want a party" Taylor said.

"There's no point regretting it now we're together let's do something fun" Chad said briskly. "Who wants to go go-karting?"

"Sure that sounds like fun" Gabriella agreed.

It took a few minutes to organise things before they piled into cars and drove down to the go-kart track.

"Boys versus Girls" Kelsi suggested knowing this was one of the few competitive activities that strength didn't play such a huge advantage.

"You're on. Prepare to go down" Chad agreed enthusiastically.

By luck they arrived just as a race had started and had to wait for the next but at least they would all be able to race together. Elliot watched the karts fly by in alarm he'd never been go-karting and while he could drive without having a car of his own hadn't had as much practice as he would like. Rachel also looked apprehensive knowing how competitive Taylor and the Basketball team could be.

They climbed into their karts Chad and Zeke fighting about who would get the kart that had won the previous race and the race began. Elliot, Rachel and Ryan happily stayed at the back of the pack as Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, Kelsi and Taylor battled fiercely for the lead. In the end Kelsi won the race and the group cheerfully returned to Taylor's where they put on some music and snacked on the left over cake and cookies discussing upcoming plans for the summer.

"We should go camping one weekend" Chad said enthusiastically.

The boys agreed but the girls were reluctant. "Where would we go?"

"There are heaps of good camp grounds not far from here" Zeke commented.

"I don't have any camping equipment Martha protested"

"I bet we have enough between all of us though. Chad and I quite a bit of camping when we were kids so we have two tents and a full set of gear and the Danforths would too" Troy said.

"Yeah we have a full set too" Zeke said. Jason nodded indicating that he did too.

"We do too in the garage somewhere" Kelsi added.

"So we go camping the weekend after graduation" Chad demanded.

"Troy and I might be in Mexico with my Mom" Gabriella said hesitantly looking at Troy.

Troy shook his head smiling. "We can't come camping the weekend after graduation, Maria is coming to see Gabriella graduate and will be here for the weekend" Troy contradicted. "We'll go and stay with Maria for a week on our way to California."

"How did you know that?" Gabriella asked incredulously.

"I spoke to Maria tonight" Troy explained, "She rang while you were in the shower."

Rachel and Elliot looked at Gabriella expecting her to be angry that Troy answered her phone in the first place and then to make matters worse forgot to pass on the message.

"Anything else my mother wanted to tell me?" Gabriella asked mildly.

"That she loves you and misses you and is very proud of you and she will try to call you tomorrow night" Troy said smiling.

Gabriella smiled too. "Thanks Troy" she said.

"You let him answer your phone?" Rachel asked surprised.

"Mom has her own ringtone, so Troy would have known it was her before he answered it" Gabriella said shrugging. "She has trouble getting through sometimes and it's really difficult to ring her back a lot of the time so it's better if Troy answers. Besides Troy and Mom are really close, she could have actually rung him directly anyway, he never actually said that Mom rang me."

"Okay then the second week of the holidays" Chad said.

"Unless we get jobs and have to work" Kelsi replied.

"Yeah Kelsi's right as much as I'd love to spend this summer hanging out with you all, I need to earn some money for college" Martha agreed.

"I think we all do" Zeke said agreeing.

"Do we want to go back to Lava Springs?" Taylor asked.

"I doubt we'll even be asked" Troy replied. "Sharpay organised it last time in attempt to break up me and Gabriella."

"I can ask Fulton to hire you all again if you want me to" Ryan offered.

"Can we have some time to talk it over" Troy asked.

"Sure of course" Ryan said casually. "I enjoyed having you all there last summer but I understand if you don't want to do it again."

"I think that I would like to work with all of you again unless I get a job at a science lab or something, or a dance studio or something that would look good on my resume so I can get a decent part time job during the year" Martha said.

"I'm hoping to get into a summer college program" Taylor said "But if I don't then I'd consider it."

"I applied for a summer program too" Gabriella agreed.

"Would there be a job for me too" Elliot asked hesitantly.

"Possibly, it depends on who Fulton has already hired for the summer, and what skills you have" Ryan said noncommittally.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, old voldys gone moldy, arrianne, Boris Yeltsin, washigntongurrl, Mimiash2012 and Kiara again for your support.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They talked about other plans for the summer for a while but it was hard to make definite plans with so many things up in the air. No-one wanted to seriously discuss whether they wanted to work at Lava Springs in front of Ryan which made it even more difficult to plan activities around unknown commitments.

"When will you know about the summer college programs?" Kelsi asked Gabriella and Taylor.

Gabriella shrugged "I assume I'll find out at the end of the freshman honours program which of us is coming back for the other summer programs" she explained.

"I don't know, hopefully in the next few weeks" Taylor added.

"What sort of programs did you apply for?" Martha asked.

"It's something like Gabriella's freshman honours program" Taylor explained enthusiastically.

"And yours Gabriella? Surely you don't want to do two programs like that?" Rachel said.

"No I applied to do a couple of college units. I've already done six units by correspondence so if I get into two units over the summer I can graduate a year early."

"How will that work? If you graduate the year before Troy then you'll be restricted to the Grad school programs at Stanford unless you're prepared to live apart for a year." Kelsi asked.

"I applied to do a couple of units this summer too" Troy admitted. "That way I can drop a unit during the year if it gets too much with all the training and travel during Basketball season" he explained. "But if I can keep up with a full load during the year I could graduate early too if I want to."

Chad looked at his astonished "You're spending way too much time with Gabriella" he complained "her freaky study habits are rubbing off on you."

"There's nothing wrong with planning ahead. Dad's been telling me horror stories about how hard College Basketball training is and how difficult it will be to keep up with classes in the height of the season and if I want to major in Drama I'll have theatre commitments too" Troy said defensively.

"Troy's right Chad" Taylor scolded. "There are way too many jocks who flunk out of college or choose the easiest subjects they can and finish college without a usable education. It's very sensible of Troy to try to avoid that happening to him."

"Lay off Taylor" Chad snapped turning away from her.

Taylor huffed in exasperation but decided not to pursue the issue in front of everyone.

They continued to talk about college until Taylor started yawning "Sorry" she said embarrassed.

"You're tired. We should let you get to bed" Gabriella said standing up and beginning to clean up.

"You're the guest of honour, you don't need to clean up" Taylor protested.

"Please let me help. You all went to all the trouble to set this up for me" Gabriella said. "If we all pitch in it won't take long."

Troy grabbed the bin and started picking up the rubbish. Zeke headed into the kitchen and started washing dishes that the others collected and brought in and Chad and Jason moved the furniture back to its original places. Soon the lounge and kitchen were restored to their usual pristine condition and everyone started to leave.

"Night Tay" Gabriella said hugging her friend. "Thank you for the party. Goodnight Mrs McKessie."

"Night Gabriella. I'll see you at Prom" Taylor replied.

"See ya Gabs" Chad said picking up Gabriella and swinging her around before handing her off to Ryan who hugged her and said. "Bye Gabriella."

Kelsi and Martha also hugged Gabriella.

"I'll see you soon" Kelsi said.

"See ya Hoops" Chad said pounding his friend on the back.

"See you at the Prom" Martha said.

"Night Guys" Troy called leading Gabriella out the door.

"Goodnight Troy, Gabriella thanks for helping clean up" Dana replied.

"Goodnight Troy. Call me if you need me" Kelsi said giving Troy a quick hug.

Gabriella curled up next to him as they drove away. "Are you okay?" Troy asked.

"I'll be fine" she said smiling at him. "Do you want to stop somewhere on the way home?" she asked.

Troy shrugged "If you want" he said "but I kind of thought you might not want to be up too late since we need to leave for the airport about eight and I'm sure you're gonna want time to recheck you've packed everything."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about the idea" Gabriella said pouting.

"Believe me Gabriella if you want to stop I'll be very enthusiastic" Troy said grinning. "Do you want to stop somewhere? I'm trying to be considerate here."

Gabriella laughed "And I love you for it" she said.

"Will you be disappointed if I said you were right" she said a few moments later.

"Of course" Troy teased. "But I promise I'll try to survive the disappointment."

"I'm sorry.." Gabriella began.

"Gabriella chill, I was joking. Like I said I expected you to want to get home to bed" Troy reassured her smiling as he turned into the drive.

Troy elected not to run the next morning, he left a note for his Dad stuck to his door because Jack and Lucille were already sleeping by the time Troy and Gabriella arrived home. Instead he woke at his usual time and lay in bed enjoying holding Gabriella while she slept.

Gabriella went to roll over surprised to find she was still wrapped in Troy's arms. Normally Troy was out running long before she woke up but he was still here in bed and it didn't feel particularly early. She opened her eyes and confirmed her suspicions it was time for her to get up.

"Good morning beautiful" Troy said quietly.

"Good morning Troy. You didn't run this morning?" she replied.

"I wanted to stay here with you" Troy said simply.

Gabriella reached her hand up to cup Troy's cheek "Are you going to be okay?" she asked. She'd been so busy worrying about going to Stanford for three weeks without him that she'd not really thought about Troy being left here alone. Sure he'd have his family and his friends around him but he'd also not have anything new to distract him. She would have new classes and acquaintances to keep her mind occupied, and from the look of the syllabus she would be very busy.

"I'll be fine. I just didn't want to waste our last morning together I'll run later" Troy answered reassuringly.

"You're going to be busy this afternoon catching up on all the things you've put off until I leave" Gabriella commented.

"That's a good thing" Troy responded. "I'll need to keep busy."

"We need to get up" Gabriella said making no effort to do so.

"Yeah" Troy agreed kissing her lightly before pushing himself up.

"Do you want the first shower?" he offered huskily.

"Troy?" Gabriella questioned.

"We need to get up" Troy repeated then added almost silently "before I get carried away and decide to keep you in bed for the next three weeks."

"Okay" Gabriella replied and unwillingly climbed out of bed and headed for the shower. As she reached the door she turned to him before opening it. "For the record I wouldn't have minded so long as you stayed here in bed with me" she said teasingly.

Gabriella showered quickly and returned to the bedroom to find it empty. She dressed and went looking for her husband finding him in the kitchen cooking pancakes.

Gabriella stood in the doorway watching him with a smile on her face. She loved how he enjoyed taking care of her.

Troy eventually noticed that he'd been being watched. He turned and smiled at Gabriella "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"I shouldn't be with all the pizza and junk food I ate last night" she said. "But those pancakes smell too good to resist."

Troy smiled at the compliment and dished them both up a plate. He carried them over to the table which he'd already set and they sat down to eat together.

"Where's Jack and Lucille?" Gabriella asked.

"Mom's having a bit of a sleep in. Dad says she had a bit of a headache last night. Dad's in the shower you must have just missed him as you came down" Troy answered.

"He ran by himself this morning?" Gabriella said feeling slightly guilty.

"Yeah it's my fault I forgot to tell him I wouldn't be running before we went out" Troy said trying to make her feel better about it.

Gabriella pushed her plate away still half full. "These are really great Troy you're getting better all the time" she said.

"And you haven't eaten them" Troy said mildly.

"I guess I am still full from last night" she said apologetically. "I'm going to go up and check my lists again and pack the last minute things."

"Sure I'll just clean the kitchen and I'll be up to carry your bags down. We've still got nearly an hour before we need to leave" Troy replied.

Gabriella leant down and kissed the top of his head as she walked past.

Lucille came into the kitchen just as Troy finished cleaning it leaving a plate of pancakes on the bench. "Wow Troy. Cooking and cleaning. What have you done with my son?" she teased.

"Hey Mama! Are you feeling better?" Troy asked careful to keep his voice quiet.

"Yes thanks Troy I'm fine"

"Dad said you had a headache?" he said worriedly.

Lucille sighed "I did too much paperwork last night. It seems I'm going to have to swallow my pride and admit I might need reading glasses" she said.

Troy grinned knowing this was a sensitive point with his mother "Don't worry Mom I'm sure Dad'll think you look hot with glasses' he said cheekily.

Lucille swatted him "Get out of here" Troy grinned again and went to help Gabriella.

A/N: Thank you to Ceciliaa93, Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, arrianne, kiara, cdrsmith, disneyismychildhood, mrs. phelps12, Eiliora and MrsDaddyirectioner for your support.

Kiara: I would have PM this if you had an account but please stop harrassing me to update. I write for my own enjoyment and being stressed about updating is not enjoyable.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A/N: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Before long all the bags were loaded into Jacks car and the four of them were on their way to the airport, traffic was light and they arrived early. Gabriella checked her bags and they headed for Starbucks to buy themselves some overpriced coffee while they waited.

"I wish you'd let us drive you to Stanford" Jack said bringing up an argument they'd had several times since Friday as they sat drinking their coffee.

"Jack it's 1,053 miles to Stanford. It's a 30 hour round trip not counting rest breaks" Gabriella protested. "I'll be fine. The plane flies in to Mineta San Jose and it's only 16 mile to Stanford. Lucille paid extra so I'd fly into the closest possible airport and you gave me money to catch a cab and I'll be there in half an hour after leaving the airport. I promise I'll call Troy the minute I get there."

"Call as soon as you get into the cab" Jack said. "I'll pay for extra credit."

"Thanks Jack, I have plenty" Gabriella objected.

"Yes but knowing you two you'll chew through it in the next three weeks" Jack countered handing her the money.

"Thank you" Gabriella gratefully conceded defeat.

"Don't spend all your free time talking to Troy. You need to make some friends among your new class as well" Lucille scolded.

"I will Lucille" Gabriella promised. "Besides Troy will need time to do his homework."

Jack laughed "We all know that Troy would never choose to do homework rather than talk to you" he stated.

Troy blushed but did not deny it. "I'll get my homework done I promise" he said to Gabriella.

"I know you will" she said calmly. In truth it irritated her that everyone believed that she nagged Troy into doing his homework. She would never nag him like that believing that it was Troy's responsibility to manage his own workload and she was proud of the fact that he'd improved his grades without her interference once he'd realised that Berkeley required better grades than he'd been getting in the past.

"We better head towards the gate" Jack said checking his watch and quickly draining the rest of his coffee.

Troy picked up Gabriella's carry-on bag and headed towards the gate with Gabriella. Jack and Lucille followed more slowly out of earshot.

Troy stopped and hugged his wife "This is as far as I can go" he said lightly.

Gabriella threw her arms around him kissing him on the cheek "I love you" she said.

"I love you Gabriella" he said kissing her quickly on the lips. "You'd better go find your seat" he said.

Gabriella turned to walk away then ran back and threw herself at Troy. "I don't want to go" she said almost in tears.

"Gabriella you need to do this. I'd love you to stay with me but you'll regret it if you don't go. I know you can do this. You just need to prove it to yourself" Troy said firmly refusing to give in to the temptation of letting her change her mind and stay.

"I'm going to miss you" Gabriella said sadly.

"I'm gonna miss you too but it's only two weeks until Prom. You'll be back before you know it" Troy said encouragingly.

They were interrupted by the loudspeaker "Final call for flight 3724 to Phoenix"

"Now go get on that plane. Call me when you get to Stanford" Troy ordered kissing her lightly.

"Okay. I love you" Gabriella said clinging to him.

Troy smiled "I love you too" he said kissing her again quickly and picking up her carryon luggage and handing it to her. He stood watching while she hurried down towards the gate.

Once Gabriella was out of sight he turned looking for his parents who had moved away a little to give the young couple some privacy to say goodbye. "Let's go" he said.

By the time they'd arrived home Troy had irritated both his parents with his inability to sit still. Annoyed by his fidgeting, the minute they pulled into the driveway Lucille ordered him to go and get some exercise to burn off his excess energy.

"Do you want to play some one-on-one, or maybe call the guys and get a game going?" Jack offered.

Troy smiled gratefully at his father "Maybe later" he replied "I'm going to make up for the run I missed this morning first."

"Don't forget I want you to mow the lawn today too Troy" Lucille reminded him.

"Sure thing Mom" he said. "I'll mow the lawn as soon as I get back and then we can play for a bit after lunch" he added to Jack. "I have some homework to finish too."

Troy ran his usual route refusing to push himself too hard. He knew that the upcoming days would be difficult and there would probably be a day when he needed to push himself to extreme levels but he wasn't at that level yet and he had a busy afternoon planned. He arrived back feeling much calmer and decided to get some studying done while he could concentrate. He finished his English essay and his Math homework before Gabriella rang.

"Hi Gabriella"

"Hi Troy I'm at Los Angeles. My flight to San Jose has been delayed. I didn't want you to worry when you didn't hear from me"

"Are you okay"

"Of course. I've had lots of experience with airports over the years Troy. What have you been doing this morning?" she asked already feeling disconnected from her normal life.

"I went for a run to make up for this morning and did some homework. Mom's making lunch and then I'm going to mow the lawn before I call Chad and the guys to come over to shoot some hoops" Troy described his plans for the day.

"Have fun with the boys"

"I will. I still miss you though"

"I miss you too Troy. I'll text you when I know my new arrival time in San Jose. I love you"

"I love you Gabriella"

Lucille had made Troy's favourite tacos for lunch and Troy managed to eat a healthy amount. He finished his homework and mowed the lawn before calling Chad.

"Hey Man how're you holding up?" Chad asked.

Troy shrugged not remembering that Chad couldn't see him. "Okay I guess. Do you want to come over and play some ball?"

Troy could hear some talking in the background before Chad agreed. "I'll see you in ten. Will it be just the two of us?" he asked.

"I thought I might ring Zeke and Jason. I don't want the whole team over though" Troy replied. "Dad'll play with us if one of them comes" Troy said.

"Okay I'll see you soon" Chad replied disconnecting the call. "He sounds okay" he said to Taylor who'd heard the entire call.

"Of course he sounds okay. Gabriella's only been gone a couple of hours" Taylor said frustrated. "And it's not as if she took his right hand with her."

"No she took his heart" Chad retorted almost laughing. He wondered if Taylor had made such a crude remark on purpose.

"For heaven's sake they are both old enough to stand on their own for three weeks" Taylor all but yelled.

"But there's no reason Troy has to do this alone. He's my brother and I'm going to be there for him" Chad said determinedly.

"Go play ball then but don't blame me when you fail your history assignment because you left it until the last minute and didn't so enough research" Taylor said putting her books in her bag and preparing to leave.

Chad arrived at Troy's after Jason and Zeke still looking angry after his argument with Taylor.

"Something the matter Chad?" Lucille asked seeing the expression on his face.

"Nah Mrs B I just had a 'difference of opinion' with Taylor" Chad replied  
"So same old same old" Jason teased.

"Jason that's not nice" Lucille scolded.

"But it's accurate" Chad said sighing. "We seem to fight more often than not lately."

"Are you fighting about a specific issue?" Lucille asked concerned shooing the other boys outside.

Chad shrugged "Troy and Gabriella, college plans, my study habits..." Chad began listing issues on his fingers.

"You fought over Troy and Gabriella?" Lucille said questioningly.

"Don't worry about it Mrs B it isn't anything Troy or Gabriella have done" Chad said dismissingly.

"Is there anything Troy or Gabriella could do to improve the situation? I'm sure they would want to help."

"Other than stop being themselves no" Chad tried to joke.

"What do you mean?" Lucille asked confused.

"Troy and Gabriella, they are so totally a couple, you can never think of one without the other. They are so in love and so perfectly in tune with each other most of the time. I can't live up to that and to be honest I don't want to. And neither does Taylor. But it irritates her that Gabriella isn't as independent as she is. That she considers Troy every time she does anything. She was angry today when I came over as soon as Troy asked, she refuses to admit that this separation is really going to be difficult for them and thinks they've both been overreacting." Chad vented to his adopted second mother not realising Troy was able to hear every word.

"I'm sorry man" Troy apologised. "I never would have asked you to come today if I'd known you were with Taylor. You should have told me you couldn't make it. I didn't want to cause problems."

"Troy it isn't your fault man. To tell the truth I was glad to have an excuse to leave. Taylor was nagging me about homework and grades again" Chad said trying to make his friend feel less guilty.

"Do you think you can work things out?" Troy asked.

"I doubt it Troy. I guess all the drama at the party last night really made it hit home. Yale is more than two thousand miles from here and unlike you I don't want to change my plans to follow her there so in three or four months we are going to be living on opposite sides of the country" he said. "Even if we succeed in patching things up now we're not going to survive the long distance thing and there'll be a lot more guys that are better for Taylor than I am at Yale"

"So you're just going to give up?" Troy asked incredulously.

"I'm not you Troy. Taylor and I have had fun together but I'm not in love with her the way you and Gabriella are in love. Dating a basketball player might be the cool thing to do in high school and U of A, but Yale's a whole different ballgame. Besides everyone knows you don't take the girl with you after high school" Chad said firmly.

"And you're okay with this?" Troy asked searchingly.

"Yeah in a way I'm looking forward to it. It will be nice to be with someone who doesn't keep trying to 'improve' me" Chad said bravely.

"So you and Taylor are breaking up"

"No not yet but we have agreed that we will break up when she leaves at the end of the summer."

Troy frowned "When did you decide this?"

"A couple of weeks ago" Chad admitted.

"About the same time you two started arguing all the time?" Troy asked.

Chad sighed "Yeah" he agreed.

"What are you going to do?"

"Let's go and play some ball" Chad said ignoring the question and heading out the door.

Lucille hearing the conversation sighed and put away some of the ingredients she had out began making Chad's favourite cookies instead of Troy's.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and Kiara for your support.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy and Chad both expected to have some difficulties concentrating on Basketball at first so elected to play on opposing sides. Troy and Jason ended up beating Jack and Chad in the first round and they wore the ribbing they got for it good naturedly but Troy became increasingly distracted while Chad's focus improved and Chad and Jack won the next round.

Lucille came out with drinks and peanut butter cookies. Troy took one look at them and began complaining "My wife leaves me and you bake Chad's favourite cookies" he protested turning and winking at Jack and Chad to show he was joking.

"I'm sorry Troy" Lucille said flustered at her son's hurt tone of voice. "I'll bake chocolate cookies for dessert tonight."

Troy was about to admit he'd been joking but he wasn't about to turn down chocolate cookies. He grinned in triumph at his father who grinned back at him. Chad immediately invited himself to dinner.

"That's not a bad idea I'll call your parents and invite them as well. We haven't seen them in months" Lucille suggested.

Jack smiled "Yeah it will be good to catch up even though we won't be able to talk about you both playing for the Redhawks anymore" he agreed.

"I'm sure Mr Danforth already knows that" Troy said looking at Chad.

"Yeah he does" Chad confirmed. "He was okay with it once I explained that Gabriella was going to Stanford and you were following your wife to California."

Lucille went back inside to call the Danforths taking the now empty cookie plate with her.

Troy checked the time on his phone. "It's like two minutes since last time you checked" Chad stirred.

"What time does Gabriella's flight get in?" Jack asked.

"It's due in about ten minutes" Troy replied.

"Okay Troy's going to be useless what say we play a little one on one" Chad said to Jason.

"Oi" protested Troy.

"Gabriella's going to ring any minute. Are you telling me you don't want to wait for her call?" Jack asked amused.

Troy didn't answer but rather picked up the phone and walked inside checking the time again.

"Hey Troy did Gabriella call?" Lucille asked as he walked through the kitchen.

"Not yet but her plane's due to land any minute" Troy replied heading to his room.

He sat on his bed waiting impatiently and when the phone rang answered it immediately disappointed to receive a text rather than a call.

"On the ground w8ing to get off. Some holdup the g8"

"Good flight?" he sent back.

"OK what u doing?" she asked.

He text back "playing BBall Chad Dad Jase"

"Win?"

"1 each Too distracted"

"Getting off now ILY"

Troy smiled at her last message, he text back "ILY" and waited impatiently to hear from her again.

"In taxi heading 4 Stanford" she text about 20 minutes later.

"U feel safe?"

"I'm fine"

"Text me when u get there?"

"OK ILY"

"ILY2"

Troy went back into the kitchen hoping to find more cookies.

"Hi Troy did Gabriella call?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah she's in the taxi on her way to Stanford now" Troy replied opening the pantry.

"Get out of there" Lucille scolded. "Did she have a good flight?"

"She said it was okay other than the delay at Los Angeles" he said making himself a sandwich.

"Troy you'll ruin your appetite" Lucille protested.

Troy looked at her surprised.

"Oh never mind" Lucille backed down knowing that Troy would be hungry again by dinner time regardless of what he ate now. "Go out and tell your father that you've heard from Gabriella" she instructed.

"Love you Mama" he said kissing her cheek as he walked past.

"Hey Dad Gabriella called she's in the taxi now" Troy said.

Jack smiled "Does she feel safe with the driver?" he asked being the overprotective father.

"She said she did" Troy replied.

"So you think you can concentrate on the game now?" Jason asked throwing him the ball.

"You're on, Dad and I against you and Chad" he suggested passing the ball to his father.

They played until Troy's phone rang again and he threw the ball to the nearest person (unfortunately that was Chad) to run and answer it.

"Does Gabriella know you drop everything for her every time she calls?" Chad jeered.

Troy ignored him but Jack laughed "Of course she does"

Chad and Jason laughed. "So do you think Mrs B might have some more cookies?" Jason asked hopefully.

Jack shrugged but led the way into the kitchen leaving Troy some privacy.

"Hey Gabriella" he said smiling.

"Hi Troy I'm here in my room at Stanford" she said.

"Do you have your own room" he asked trying to sound casual but having just realised that his plans wouldn't work unless she did.

"Well yeah if you can call it that. My closet at Mom's was nearly this size" Gabriella said laughing.

"Seriously?" Troy laughed too.

"Yeah there's a single bed and a desk and a closet and a window with bars on it. Just as well I didn't bring all my stuff the wardrobe is tiny too. I share a bathroom kitchen and sitting room with three other girls though I've only met one so far. She seems nice. Her family's here and her dad helped bring the rest of my stuff up from the taxi. She's gone out with them to explore the campus so I'm on my own for the moment" Gabriella described.

"I wish we could have driven you up there and explored together too" Troy said wistfully.

"Alia is from Medford in Oregon only six hours from here Troy" Gabriella said reasonably.

"I know it was impractical" Troy replied "but you wouldn't seem so far away if I'd seen where you were living and walked around with you and could picture the places you're going to be talking about."

"I don't think it would make much difference Troy but I'll be home in twelve days for Prom" Gabriella said reassuringly "and if you think it would help to know who I'm talking about you could look up their bio's on the freshman honours page I favourite it on your computer. That might help."

"I'll do that" Troy agreed. "You should go out and walk around find your way to classes and the cafeteria and stuff before it gets dark" he suggested.

"Yeah" Gabriella agreed hesitantly.

"I love you Gabriella. I know this is hard but you've had plenty of practice in finding your way around strange schools and meeting new classmates. At least this time they're all super smart too so it should be easy to find friends you have something in common with" Troy said reassuringly.

"Troy having something like intelligence in common isn't what makes great friends. Accepting each other's differences and respecting the person is."

"But having things in common must help at least at first. And at least this time everyone else is new too. You don't have to try to break into existing cliques"

"That will help" Gabriella agreed. "And if I don't make great friends here it doesn't matter because I'll be back in Albuquerque with my real friends soon."

"I'm sure you will make new friends too. Everybody likes you"

"Except your fan club" Gabriella reminded him dryly.

"Well yes but they don't count besides they aren't at Stanford. They're all still here making my life miserable" Troy grumbled.

"Poor Troy it's such a burden to be popular" Gabriella teased.

"Popularity I can handle. It's obsessed fan girls who think I owe them something I have a problem with and you won't be here to protect me" Troy retorted.

"You can always hide behind Chad" Gabriella said laughing.

"Don't worry I will" Troy reassured her. "I'll miss you."

"I miss you already. I love you"

"I love you Gabriella I'll talk to you on Skype tonight."

"I'm looking forward to it"

Troy could hear noise in the background "Sounds like your other roommate is there I'll let you go and meet them."

"Bye Troy"

"Bye Gabi love you"

Troy sighed threw himself back on his bed not having the energy or motivation to go back out and talk to his friends.

He knew it was stupid to miss Gabriella this much when he'd seen her this morning but knowing she wasn't coming home tonight was killing him.

After a while he roused himself Chad and Jason spent enough time at the Boltons to be comfortable playing on the court without him but his mom would scold him for being such a bad host if he didn't go back out soon.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, demigodlova and broadwaybaby2010 for your support.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Disclaimer" I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella went out to the lounge area of her new apartment and introduced herself to the new arrival. Sophia had flown in from Shreveport Louisiana but had been picked up in Los Angeles and driven to Stanford by an uncle who efficiently carried up more than twice as much luggage as Gabriella had brought with her and quickly departed wishing his niece a pleasant three weeks and promising to collect her at the end of them. Sophia smiled at Gabriella as he left. "Sorry about him he means well but he's such an old sourpuss these days all he thinks about is his work" she said. "I do hope you're not a workaholic it's not good for you, you know."

Gabriella laughed. "I like to get my work done ahead of time and be prepared for class but I wouldn't say I'm a workaholic" she replied.

Sophia sighed "But I bet you've done all that pre-reading they sent us" she said grumpily.

"Yes of course I hate starting a new place unprepared. Haven't you done it?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Well I tried I've read at least half of each of them but it was all so dry and I was so busy with going away parties and buying a new wardrobe to come here and stuff" Sophia made excuses.

"Well I don' think all that is going to fit into your wardrobe" Gabriella said smiling.

"Oh I'm sure I'll manage" Sophia dismissed. "So have you been out to look around? Have you met anyone else? Let's go and meet some college men" she said enthusiastically.

"I've met Alia, that's her room there" Gabriella said pointing. "Her family drove her down so she's out exploring with them. I didn't really feel like going out on my own but we could go together" Gabriella suggested.

The two girls walked downstairs and out into the sunshine "I'm from Mansfield which is about three quarters of an hour south of Shreveport Louisiana, where you from?" Sophia asked.

"Albuquerque New Mexico for the last year and a half, we moved around quite a lot before that but I've never lived in Louisiana" Gabriella replied.

"I've never moved anywhere we've always lived in Mansfield and you wouldn't believe how boring it can be. I've known just about everyone there for my whole life. What's Albuquerque like?"

"I love it there but that's probably because East High is the best school I've ever been to and I've made really great friends there" 'and Troy's there' she added silently.

"Where else have you lived?" Sophia asked.

"Everywhere" Gabriella said sighing. "My father's family come from Cuba and My mother's family from Milan Italy but I was born in New York and lived there until I was eight. Since then we moved once or twice a year. Mom's working in Mexico at the moment but I refused to go."

"Who do you live with then?"

"With my husband Troy and his parents" Gabriella said casually hoping her new friend wouldn't freak out.

"What about your Dad?" Sophia asked not having fully taken in Gabriella's answer.

"He and Mom broke up when I was eight and I hadn't heard from him since until the wedding. We're trying to reconnect but even if I wanted to I couldn't live with him he's worse than Mom. He has a house in Albuquerque to be near me but he was in London most of last month and I think he's in New York this week."

"Wow. I've never been anywhere. My parent's married right out of high school and had my brother I'm the youngest of six kids. We live just up the road from Mom's parents and Dad's parents live across town. Great Grandma Rosie lives next door and I'm related to nearly half the people in our neighbourhood. Uncle Max is the only one who's moved away and you could see how he is. It isn't any fun to visit him." Sophia said. "I'm going to make the most of coming to Stanford. No getting knocked up and settling down for me" she added determinedly. "I'm going to date every hot guy that crosses my path."

Gabriella laughed "Good luck with that plan" she said good humouredly.

"I don't steal boyfriends from my friends so let me know if you want to call dibs on someone" Sophia said.

"It won't be an issue like I said I'm married" Gabriella said mildly realising the lack of reaction earlier wasn't acceptance but Sophia either not hearing correctly or not taking in what she'd said.

"What?" Sophia screeched in shock.

"I'm married" Gabriella repeated calmly.

"Are you kidding?" Sophia asked incredulously.

"No" Gabriella said showing off her rings "Why would I joke about something like that?"

"Why would you get married before finishing High School? Are you pregnant?" Sophia asked then put her hands over her mouth "Oh God I shouldn't have said it like that."

Gabriella grinned at her reaction, "No of course not" she dismissed.

"Then why on earth?" Sophia asked stopping herself from saying anything more.

"My father's family are from Cuba. He arranged a marriage for me when I was seven. Then after my parents separated I didn't see any of his family again. By the time I found out about the marriage contract I was in love with Troy. We got married before my father could force me into the marriage he'd arranged" Gabriella explained briefly.

"That's terrible" Sophia said truly horrified.

"Well it seemed to be at the time, until we found a way around the contract" Gabriella admitted. "Being married to Troy is wonderful."

"And you're still coming to Stanford?" Sophia asked surprised.

"Yes of course. I wouldn't be here otherwise" Gabriella said.

"Your husband is going to let you?" she clarified.

"Yes" Gabriella said irritated "Why would you assume he wouldn't you've never even met him?"

Sophia sighed apologetically and explained. "When my mom fell pregnant her parents pressured her into marrying my dad. She got a scholarship to college but he wouldn't let her attend. He said he needed his wife at home to cook and keep the house and look after the children that she wouldn't need a college education to do that. He didn't want me to come either but Mom put her foot down and told him she'd leave him if he tried to stop me."

Gabriella sat quietly while Sophia ranted. "I'm sorry that happened to your Mom" she said. "But I get angry when people assume that getting married has limited who I can be. My best friend at home does it too and she doesn't have any reason too."

"So is your husband coming to Stanford?" Sophia asked curiously.

"No he's going to study theatre at Berkeley. We're going to get a place half way in between" Gabriella said enthusiastically.

"Won't you miss the lifestyle of living on campus?"

"I don't think so especially after seeing those rooms can you imagine living in such a small space with three other girls for a whole year if you don't get along" Gabriella said.

"Yeah I guess" Sophia said dismissively.

"Even if you do all like each other it could be a disaster if one roommate's a neat nick and one a slob or one really loves to party and bring people home every second night. At least I already know I can live with my husband's bad habits" Gabriella said laughing "We're looking forward to living on our own."

Sophia decided to drop the subject. "Let's find the cafeteria I'm starving" she said.

It's only half past five" Gabriella protested checking the time.

"Here yeah it's half past seven at home and my stomach definitely thinks it's dinner time" Sophia said.

Gabriella laughed "Okay let's go find somewhere to eat" she agreed pulling up the map of the campus on her phone.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, kiara, broadwaybaby2010, arrianne, ChocoholicWriter, kelly81387, lizzien12345678, iminlove13 and periangal for your support.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

The Danforths arrived just as Lucille was taking the lasagne out of the oven.

"Hey Charlie, Hello Tessa" Jack greeted them.

"Hello Jack. Please tell me that Chad didn't invite himself to dinner again?" Tessa requested earnestly.

"You know we're always happy to have him" Jack replied ambiguously.

"Oh that boy! I swear he does have better manners than this" she said shaking her head in aggravation.

"I'm sure he does when he needs to. But he doesn't need to stand on ceremony with us he's part of the family and I'm glad to see him act like he still is. We haven't seen enough of him or you lately" Jack said smiling.

"Hey Jack. I hear you won't be buying season tickets for the Redhawks next year" Charlie said to deflect his wife's frustration.

"I'm afraid not Charlie but we'll definitely make plans to go to the Redhawks v Bears game in November" Jack said making light of his disappointment.

"Oh well. Can't blame the boy for following his wife to California" Charlie said encouragingly.

"Hi Tessa, Charlie you're just in time dinners almost ready. Can we get you a drink?" Lucille asked reminding Jack of his responsibilities as host.

"Good evening Lucille thanks for inviting us" Tessa said politely.

"It's been too long" Lucille said smiling sincerely at the mother of the boy she'd always thought of as her second son.

"Well the boys are growing up. They don't need us to drive and chaperone anymore" Charlie said.

Lucille sighed "That's true" she agreed.

"I never realised how much I would miss it though it seemed more of a hassle at the time" Tessa commented. "Now here they are all grown up and they'll be off to college in a few months."

"At least you know Chad will be home to eat you out of house and home often enough" Lucille said trying to be cheerful. "Troy and Gabriella will be in California and with Maria not living in Albuquerque anymore I'll be lucky if we get to see them for half the holidays."

"Speaking of Gabriella how's it working out having her live with you?" Tessa asked curiously.

"Surprisingly well, she's like the daughter I always wanted" Lucille said firmly.

Tessa looked towards Jack, who was returning to the room with two bottles of beer, for his opinion. "There really isn't that much difference, Gabriella was here a lot even before they got married and she eats less than Chad" Jack joked handing Charlie a bottle.

Lucille elbowed him in the stomach and he quickly added "Gabriella's part of the family it actually feels strange knowing she won't be here tonight"

"Surely it wasn't always that easy?" Tessa said

"Well no but the hardest part for me was when they were living with Maria. I was so glad to have them back here and Gabriella fits into the family routines very well. And she's a terrific influence on Troy he does his homework and picks up after himself without me nagging at all since she moved in" Lucille said smiling.

"I had worried that Troy and Chad had had a falling out we've seen so little of Troy lately" Tessa said.

Jack frowned "It's not just Gabriella's fault. He's been busy with that blasted musicale, and he spends more time studying these days to get the grades to get in to Berkeley" he explained.

"I'll be sad not to be able to watch Troy and Chad play together next year but that scholarship to Berkeley is a real achievement. You must be so proud of him" Charlie said.

"Yes we are" Lucille said not giving Jack a chance to express his disappointment at Troy not playing close enough to home for him to go to the games.

"Let's go through to the table and I'll bring out the food, Jack can you call the boys in?" Lucille suggested returning to the kitchen.

"Boy's come in and wash up for dinner" Jack yelled standing next to the back door having done a quick side step to be sure he was out of the way of the stampede.

"Lasagne" Chad exclaimed as he saw Lucille bring the dish to the table and start to serve "Brilliant Mrs B"

"I'm glad you approve Chad" Jack said dryly smiling at his wife.

"Smells great Mom" Troy said as she handed him his plate.

The silence as they ate was a compliment to Lucille's cooking as were the requests for second helpings from all four males.

"Lovely dinner as always Lucille" Tessa said as she finished.

Thankyou. I enjoy cooking for such an appreciative audience" Lucille replied.

"Is Gabriella interested in cooking?" Tessa asked.

"She and Troy are both interested in learning. They're doing quite well but I hope to have a little more time to teach them over the summer" Lucille replied.

"You cook! Dude?" Chad blurted out stopping himself just in time before he insulted his friend, his mother and Lucille by declaring cooking to be women's work.

"Yeah Gabriella and I will be on our own next year. It's probably the biggest drawback to not living on campus that we won't be provided meals or access to the dining hall of an evening. If we want to eat together then it'll have to be takeaway or cook ourselves" Troy explained.

"I hadn't thought of that. But Gabriella can cook" Chad protested.

"Chad we'll both be very busy there'll be days when I have time to cook and clean and other times when Gabriella has time. I have to be able to help out. I won't be a burden on Gabriella" Troy explained patiently.

"Next you'll be telling me that you're learning how to do laundry and clean the bathroom" Chad said laughing.

"No Maria already taught me that when I was staying there" Troy replied calmly.

"But letting your mother in law teach you how to clean?" Chad asked incredulously.

"Would you let Mrs McKessie wash your sheets and underwear?" Troy demanded.

Chad shook his head horrified at the idea "Hell no" he replied earning himself a slap on the arm from his mother for his language. "But cleaning?" he protested again.

"I intend to do everything I can to look after Gabriella next year" Troy said firmly. "Do you have a problem with that?" he demanded.

"Noo.." Chad said thoughtfully. "Getting married has changed more stuff for you than I thought" he admitted a few moments later.

"Yeah Chad it did. And you know what I wouldn't change a thing. Marrying Gabriella is the best thing I've ever done."

Troy said grinning.

Tessa sat listening to the boys' argument almost in shock. Troy and Chad had been inseparable since they were four until late last autumn when he'd seemed to stop coming over though Chad had reassured her that there was nothing wrong between them. She had thought she knew Troy almost as well as she knew her own son but sitting here listening to him talk it sounded like he was years older than Chad. How could he have changed so much in such a short time or had she just not noticed him changing before that.

"Have you heard from Gabriella since she arrived at Stanford?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah she's sharing a four bedroom dorm but only one of the other girls had arrived before she rang. Gabriella said they seemed nice enough and she has her own bedroom though it's tiny" Troy said enthusiastically.

"So she's settling in okay finding her way around?" Jack asked.

Troy shrugged "So far she is. She's excited about classes starting tomorrow. She was about to go out and look around and find her way to the classrooms" he said. "We are going to Skype later so you can come in and see that she's okay for yourselves" he told his parents.

Gabriella and Sophia found their way to one of the cafeteria's on campus. It was crowded and noisy but the food smelt good. They collected trays and a meal and Gabriella followed Sophia into the dining area. Sophia made a beeline for a pair of cute boys sitting alone on a table meant for six. "May we sit here?" she asked.

"Of course" the blond smiled "My names Ben and this is Stephen. We've come to Stanford for the freshman honours program and we don't know anyone yet."

"Us too" Sophia said enthusiastically. "I'm Sophia and this is Gabriella, she's my roommate. We met this afternoon."

"Hello Sophia, hello Gabriella" Stephen said smiling at Gabriella. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Mansfield Louisiana it's a tiny place I'm really looking forward to being here in California" Sophia gushed. "What about you two? Where are you from and what do you want to study?"

"I'm from Iowa and I'm going to study business administration" Ben replied smiling at both girls.

"I'm from Boston. I'm going to study law and join my father's firm" Stephen said still looking at Gabriella.

"I'm going to do premed. I'm from Albuquerque" Gabriella said feeling slightly uncomfortable with Stephen's stare.

"Have you met the other girls in your dorm?" Ben asked.

"Not yet" Sophia said. "Gabriella met one of them but she's with her family this evening. How about you?"

"Yes Zac and Damon. Zac's busy studying the pre-reading and Damon's family are here still so he's having dinner with them before they head home" Ben said laughing.

"I should be finishing mine too" Sophia huffed. "But have you ever read anything more boring."

"I suppose it was but I wouldn't like to turn up and be the only one who hasn't read it" Ben said. "How about you Stephen? Have you done all the pre-reading?" Ben asked.

"Of course. You'd be mad not to" Stephen replied.

"Yes Gabriella's done it all to" Sophia said "I guess I will have to finish it tonight. But enough of that dull stuff, tell me about yourself."

"Well I have a brother and a sister both younger than me" Ben said. "My Dad's a history professor at Drake University and my mom's a nurse. We live on the outskirts of Des Moines" Ben said.

"I would like to live in a city that size" Sophia said.

"I found that smaller cities were much friendlier than large ones" Gabriella said.

"Yet you said Albuquerque is the best place you've lived and it's a fairly big city" Sophia argued.

"I suppose it is but East High is in a smallish community. My friends there have almost all been at school together all their lives and most of their parents went to East High too" Gabriella said.

"What do your parent's do Gabriella?" Stephen asked.

"My mom's a corporate trouble shooter she get's moved around to sort out problems in her company, Alejandro owns his own business but I'm not sure what his company actually does" Gabriella replied. "What about you Sophia?" she added trying to deflect the conversation.

"My Dad's a farmer and Mom helps out on the farm and is a part time teacher's aide" Sophia said slightly embarrassed. My two older brothers have chosen to stay in Mansfield Jordan helps out on the farm and Blake works for the farm supplies store in town. I'm the youngest.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, wildcats2016, Kiara, old voldys gone moldy, and MissJustine19 for your support.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

As soon as he reached his dorm Stephen got online and googled the freshman honours program and checked out Gabriella. He then googled Alejandro Montez and Alejandro Bolton smiling as he saw the results. Alejandro Montez was a very wealthy man who had only one daughter with whom it was reported he was estranged though from what Gabriella had said they had recently reconnected. She was definitely potential girlfriend his father would approve of.

As soon as the Danforths left Troy hurried to his room and attempted to skype Gabriella. She didn't answer so he got out his books to finish his homework while he waited.

Gabriella arrived back at the flat eager to talk to Troy but her other two roommates were sitting on the couch getting acquainted so she felt she should at least make some effort to spend some time with them before disappearing into her room for the night.

"Hi I'm Gabriella" she said to the tall brunette she didn't recognise.

"Hi Gabriella I'm Casey. Where are you from?" the brunette said smiling.

"Albuquerque, what about you?" Gabriella smiled too.

"Well I actually only live about 40 minutes from here but my parents thought this would be a good opportunity to stay on campus to see if I like it. They're hoping that I will want to live at home next year" Casey said blushing a little.

"That's a good idea" Gabriella commented supportively.

"I can't believe your parents are even considering letting you live on campus if they're so close" Alia exclaimed.

"Well they were afraid if they didn't I'd choose to go to Harvard or Yale where I would have to live on campus and that'd cost them even more because of travel expenses" Casey said reasonably.

"I guess that makes sense" Gabriella replied. "My mom would have encouraged me to live on campus no matter how near she lived because she never knows when she's going to be transferred again and at least then I'd have stability" she commented.

"So she might not live in Albuquerque very long after you leave. How will you feel about that?" Alia asked.

"She doesn't live in Albuquerque now; she's in Mexico for the next couple of months" Gabriella said sighing. "I really miss her but I guess it won't make much difference next year."

"What about your Dad does he just follow her from place to place?" Casey asked.

"They split up when I was seven. I only met him again a couple of months ago" Gabriella replied.

"Oh God I'm sorry!" Casey apologised.

"Don't worry about it" Gabriella reassured her. "It doesn't upset me."

"Where does he live?" Alia asked.

"Actually he moved to Albuquerque at the same time as Mom moved away, but he's planning to move back to New York at the end of the summer" Gabriella commented.

"So your Mom just left town and left you to live with your Dad when you hadn't seen him in years" Alia asked scandalised.

"No I don't live with Alejandro. I live with my husband and his family" Gabriella said casually.

"You're married?" Casey asked shocked.

"When did you get married?" Alia asked.

"Yes we got married on the 6th of December last year" Gabriella said answering both questions at once.

Casey wanted to know why someone so smart with their future ahead of them would get married before finishing high school but felt it would be too nosy to ask. Alia also thought that questioning Gabriella before establishing some form of friendship might put the exotic brunette on the defensive and get in the way of living peacefully with her for the next three weeks.

"Excuse me I'm going to go and ring my family" Gabriella said heading into her room and closing the door.

Her conscience forced her to ring her mother first.

"Hi Gabriella are you all settled into your dorm at Stanford?" Maria asked.

"Hi Mom, I guess so. I've unpacked but it still feels a bit weird" Gabriella replied honestly.

"It will for the first week or so it always does" her mother comforted.

"Yeah but I'll only be here three weeks so it'll probably never feel right" Gabriella grumbled.

"You could choose to live in a dorm like that next year if you wanted" Maria reminded her daughter.

"Mom I don't. I want to live with Troy" Gabriella said firmly.

"Okay Gabriella I understand your feelings but I want you to promise me to make the absolute most of living on campus for the next few weeks. Make some friends, explore the campus life so you truly know what you'll be giving up to live with Troy. Are you sharing a dorm?"

"I have my own tiny bedroom but share bathroom and kitchen facilities with three other girls" Gabriella described.

"You'll have to be organised in the morning with only one bathroom."

"Yeah especially as Sophia looks like the type of girl who can't leave the house without a full face of makeup" Gabriella said laughing.

"That may not seem so funny in the morning" Maria warned. "Have you met the other girls?"

"Yeah they both seem nice though Sophia is by far the most outspoken. I think Casey's a little shy and quiet and I don't know Alia well enough to describe her yet" Gabriella replied.

"Have you spoken to Troy?" Maria asked.

"I rang him just after I got here to let him know that I'd arrived safely, I'll skype him later" Gabriella admitted hoping her mother wouldn't be upset that she'd rung Troy hours ago and only just got around to ringing her.

Maria smiled "I'll let you go then I'm sure he's waiting impatiently"

"No it's okay, he'd understand that I want to talk to you as well" Gabriella argued.

"It's fine Gabi. I don't suppose there's much more to tell me yet anyway. I'll ring you in a day or so" Maria said knowing that she shouldn't promise to ring the next day in case she couldn't get through.

"I met a few other people when I had dinner with Sophia" Gabriella said.

"Boy type people?" Maria asked amused.

"Yes Sophia is determined to flirt with every halfway decent looking male within a hundred metre radius" Gabriella said dryly.

"Are you telling people that you're married?" Maria asked curiously.

"I told Sophia, Alia and Casey. It didn't come up while we were with Ben and Stephen" Gabriella replied.

"Is there a reason it didn't come up" Maria said concerned that there was a reason her daughter hadn't wanted to tell the boys she was married.

"Not really it came up with the girls after I told them about you moving to Mexico when they wanted to know who I lived with. Stephen and Ben were more interested in what we were going to major in, and Sophia was trying to monopolise their attention and I was happy to let her so I wasn't volunteering information. I don't intend to hide the fact that I'm married" Gabriella explained a little defensively.

"Gabriella I'm not judging you. I understand that it must be difficult to tell potential new friends something that makes your life experiences so different from theirs when you're trying to establish some common ground to build a friendship on. I just think it's better to tell them up front especially as if your roommates already know it's sure to come out" Maria said soothingly.

"I know and I will tell them if they ask about boyfriends or who I live with but I don't want to just blurt it out to everyone as if I'm defensive about it" Gabriella replied.

"Gabriella if these people are going to be your friends they will have to accept Troy's place in your life. That will be easier if they know about him from the start" Maria encouraged.

"Yes I know I wish he could be here to meet all these people too" Gabriella said sighing.

"I'll say goodnight and let you talk to him. Maybe that will make you feel better" Maria teased.

"Goodnight Mom I'll talk to you soon. I love you" Gabriella smiled.

"Goodnight Gabriella I love you too" her mother replied disconnecting the call.

-o0o-

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, broadwaybaby2010, old voldys gone moldy, iminlove13 and Kiara for your support.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

As soon as she'd disconnected Gabriella's computer notified her that she had another call waiting. She clicked on accept and was treated to the sight of her husband frowning at the paper he was writing on.

"Having trouble Wildcat?" she said smiling.

Troy looked at the screen surprised for a second before his eyes lit up at the sight of her. "Gabriella" he exclaimed.

"Hi Troy" Gabriella smiled. "What's the problem?"

"It's nothing just finishing my math homework" Troy said dismissively.

"Hold it up to the screen and I'll look it over for you" Gabriella offered.

"Nah I'll finish it later" Troy declined.

"Troy I want to help you" Gabriella reminded him frustrated.

"Okay" Troy conceded. He held the book up so Gabriella could read it.

"Good job Troy they're all right except for the last one, you've made a mistake in the second line" Gabriella said reading though his work quickly.

Troy quickly crossed out the equation "Thanks. I'll do it again later" he said firmly closing the book and changing the subject. "How's your evening been have you had dinner?"

"Yeah I had dinner with Sophia" Gabriella said smiling at his concern.

"Sophia?" Troy questioned.

"She's one of my roommates she arrived while we were on the phone earlier. She's from a small town in Louisiana and is very enthusiastic about being here in a place where she doesn't already know everyone. She's very friendly and a terrible flirt but I like her" Gabriella described knowing Troy would look her up on the freshman honour sight as well.

Troy laughed "She sounds like fun" Troy commented.

"I think she will be when there aren't any boys around" Gabriella agreed.

Troy laughed "As long as she doesn't treat me like the cheerleaders do" he said.

"I'm sure she won't she said she wouldn't poach boyfriends from her friends and even offered to let me call dibs if I saw a guy I really liked. Of course that was before I told her I was married. I'll introduce you to her as my husband so she'll know from the start you're off limits" Gabriella said sobering when she realised she wouldn't be able to introduce Troy to her new friends until the following school year.

"How did she take it when you told her you were married?" Troy asked concerned. He was worried that being married would cause problems with her making new friends.

"She was surprised of course. And concerned that I was pregnant and would have to drop out of school. Apparently that's what happened to her mom, she had a scholarship to college but she fell pregnant and her parents forced her to marry the baby's father and then he refused to let her go to college" Gabriella said quietly.

"So she's accepted you but doesn't know what to think about me?" Troy asked perceptively.

"Hmm.. Yeah... I think it will be okay though once she sees that you don't try to control my life" Gabriella replied positively.

"So where did the two of you eat?" Troy asked.

"At a cafeteria on campus not far from here. It was really busy so we sat with a couple of guys, turned out that they're in the freshman honours program too" Gabriella said enthusiastically.

Troy smiled "So you've met five of your class already, did you like the guys" he asked without any hint of jealousy or concern.

"One yes, Ben's father's a professor in Iowa and he had some funny stories to tell about him, the other one Stephen is the son of a Boston Lawyer" Gabriella replied.

"You didn't like him?" Troy asked concerned.

"He was polite enough but no I don't think I will. He seemed to be the sort of person who cares about wealth and power and stuff. A little too much like Alejandro" Gabriella said deliberately not mentioning Stephen's obvious interest in her or how he made her feel slightly uneasy.

"Speaking of Alejandro, have you heard from him?" Troy asked

"No I'll probably try to ring him in a day or two when I have more to tell him about classes and stuff, besides the fundraiser last night was a pretty big deal it was in the gossip section I watched on the plane I saw him in the background of some of the pictures he was definitely in New York this morning" Gabriella said easing Troy's concern.

"I'll keep a bit of an eye out here for him but I want you to be careful" Troy said,

"I will Troy" Gabriella promised.

"So did you find your classrooms for tomorrow?" Troy said changing the subject before Gabriella got annoyed with his over protectiveness.

"Yeah we found most of them, this place is huge. I've lived in towns smaller than Stanford" Gabriella said laughing again.

Troy heard knocking on his bedroom door and called for the person to come in. His mother stuck her head around the door. "Goodnight Troy"

"Hey Mom, do you want to come in and say Goodnight to Gabriella too?" he offered smiling.

Lucille hurried over and looked at the screen "Hello Gabriella, are you all unpacked and settled in?" she asked knowing how much Gabriella hated living out of boxes and bags.

"Yeah I'm all unpacked but this place is tiny so I still don't feel well organised" Gabriella replied smiling.

"At least you don't have to share a room and deal with someone else's mess" Lucille replied knowing that one of the few stresses Gabriella had living with Troy was his lack of tidiness and organization. Troy had certainly made a huge effort to change his habits and pick up after himself but their room was still rarely as neat as the compulsively tidy Gabriella would have liked it to be.

"Yeah I'll still have to deal with sharing the bathroom and kitchen though but living with Troy would have been good practice for that" Gabriella replied teasingly.

"Oi" Troy protested.

"Troy I love you but you must admit you're not the tidiest person though I really appreciate how hard you try to clean up after yourself these days" Gabriella smiled at him wishing she could kiss his cheek as she normally would.

Troy smiled back at his wife knowing that she truly did notice and appreciate the efforts he made to improve.

"Do you like your dorm-mates?" Lucille asked.

"So far. I barely know them yet though" Gabriella said cautiously more honestly than she had been with her own mother for fear of hurting her feelings. "It will take a couple of weeks before I know if I want to be friendly with them and then I'll be back in Albuquerque. Most of them will barely remember each other by the time school starts next year"

"It will be different this time Gabriella. You all know you'll be back together in September. Surely some of them will try to keep in touch" Troy said encouragingly.

"Please make an effort to get to know them Gabriella, Troy's right these will be your classmates for the next four years and you have a better chance of making good friends now while you live on campus" Lucille requested.

"I'll try" Gabriella promised. "Though most of them won't be in the premed classes and I've done a lot of the early general classes already."

"I know you will try your best. Goodnight Gabriella I'll talk to you soon" Lucille said smiling at her daughter-in-law and getting up to leave.

"Goodnight Lucille" Gabriella replied.

Jack stuck his head in the door as she was about to leave. "Troy have you seen L..." he began to ask only to stop as he saw his missing wife.

"Hi Dad come say Goodnight to Gabriella" Troy invited.

"Hi Gabriella, how'd your first afternoon at college go?" Jack asked.

"It was fine, I've met my new dorm-mates and they all seem nice and found my way around a bit so I won't get lost on the way to class tomorrow" Gabriella said smiling at the man she truly thought of as a Dad.

"That's great, is your dorm comfortable, what is the security like?" Jack asked.

"I feel very safe. We're on the fourth floor so thank goodness there is a lift" Gabriella reported. "There is only one main door that can be accessed from the outside and the reception desk is manned from 6 am to midnight and you need a key and a security code to get in at night."

"Is it a girls dorm house?" Jack asked curiously.

"No the building is coed but the boys have the first and third floors and girls the second and fourth, you need your room key in the elevator to open it at your floor. There are six four room apartments on each floor but the girls in the other apartments on our floor that I saw looked like they've been here all semester at least so I don't know where the other freshman honours students are staying" Gabriella said not noticing Sophia duck her head into the room and seeing her talking to an older man on Skype, deciding not to interrupt, mistakenly thinking he must be her husband.

"What are the other girls in your dorm like?" Jack asked.

"They seem nice, Sophia is a huge flirt but she's great to talk to when we're on our own, Alia and Casey I don't know so well yet I'll tell you more about them next time" Gabriella said.

"Okay I'll say goodnight and let you finish talking to Troy. Don't stay up too late you guys Gabriella has a big day tomorrow" Jack said leaving the room.

"Night Jack" Gabriella called.

"Night Dad" Troy added smiling at his father as he left the room "You want to run in the morning?" he asked.

"Sure wake me up when you get up" Jack agreed knowing that Troy was really asking for time to talk to him about something.

"Hey Troy" Gabriella said smiling at him once they were alone again.

"I should let you get some sleep" Troy said smiling at his wife.

"Yeah but I'm not ready to say goodnight yet. Let me go and wash up and I'll be back" she promised rushing from the room.

Troy decided to do the same and within minutes he was back in his room stripping off his clothes while he waited for Gabriella to return.

Gabriella came back and sat in front of the computer silently admiring the view of her husband in his boxers bending to pick up his dirty clothes. She considered wolf whistling him but didn't want to disturb her new roommates. "I am not going to have Skype sex with you Troy" she teased instead.

"Troy looked at the screen to see Gabriella smirking at him. "No I was just getting ready for bed" he said.

Gabriella looked behind him and could see that he'd rearranged his room to put the desk beside the bed. "What have you done to our room?" she asked surprised.

"I moved the desk so I could Skype from in bed" he said. "I'll put it back before you get home. Look away for a moment while I move the screen" He said climbing into bed and turning the computer screen so it was facing him. "Okay" he said looking back at the screen to see Gabriella pulling on one of Troy's shirts to wear as pyjamas.

"Look away" she warned picking up her laptop and climbing into bed settling it on her knees. "Okay safe to look" she said. "Not quite as good as being in bed together but the best I can do."

"I love you Gabriella" Troy said quietly. "I miss you but you're doing the right thing, I'm so proud of you."

"I miss you Troy. Everyone's telling me how great this opportunity is supposed to be but I just want to come home to you."

"Twelve days Gabriella. I'll talk to you every day and then you'll be back for prom" Troy said encouragingly.

"I miss you so much. I wish I was there with you in your arms. I don't know how I'm going to sleep."

Troy sighed "I don't know either but I guess we ought to try" he said lying down. "I love you Gabriella, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good night."

"I love you Troy, Good night" they disconnected at the same time but it was quite a while before either fell asleep.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcat2016, Kiara and Guest for your support.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy woke his father half an hour earlier than normal the next morning and Jack cursed quietly when he saw the clock as he got dressed.

Knowing that it was earlier than normal Troy had put the kettle on and handed his father a cup of coffee in silent apology as he entered the kitchen.

"Trouble sleeping?" Jack asked sympathetically.

"Yeah. It just doesn't feel right" Troy admitted.

"How long were you up talking last night?" Jack asked without condemnation.

"Only for about half an hour after you left" Troy replied.

"Are you ready to go?" Jack asked as he drained the last of his coffee.

"Yeah round towards the river?" Troy suggested.

"Sure but I hope you're not planning on running all the way to the river and back" Jack protested.

"Nah let me know when you're ready to turn back" Troy said amiably.

They ran for a while in silence enjoying the freshness of the early morning. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Jack asked realising that Troy was having trouble bringing up whatever was bothering him.

"Do you think I'm being unfair on Gabriella asking her to live off campus with me? Would she be better off living in the dorms at Stanford?" Troy asked quietly.

"Are you rethinking wanting to live together?" Jack queried.

"No I still want to live with Gabriella. It's just everyone has made such a big deal over these next three weeks being Gabriella's only chance to experience living in the dorms and how much easier it will be to make friends while living on campus that I'm starting to worry. Am I asking too much asking her to give that up?" Troy said worried that his actions were hurting his wife.

"I can't answer that Troy, you need to talk it over with Gabriella. One thing about these next couple of weeks is that it will give Gabriella the experience of being away from you and of living on campus and making new friends. She'll be able to tell you what she wants to do. You need to think about what you want. You've already admitted that living with Gabriella will be a lot more work with cooking and housework not to mention the travel time involved. And you're aware that these issues with Gabriella will be the same for you. Do you really want to live off campus" Jack answered wanting Troy to think about his own wants as well.

"What do you think I should do?" Troy asked.

"I would have liked to see you spend at least the first semester living in the dorms like a normal freshman, but that will only be beneficial if you don't spend every spare moment driving to Stanford to see Gabriella and to be honest I really can't seeing you doing anything else" Jack said bluntly. "Gabriella left yesterday morning and you talked to her four times."

"Are you saying I shouldn't call her?" Troy said half worried and half angry at the suggestion.

"No Troy I don't want you to feel you can't call or for Gabriella to feel that she shouldn't be calling you. I certainly don't want Gabriella feeling alone and not wanting to call for fear of upsetting you or letting us down. I'm just pointing out that there would be very little advantage in living on campus if you both spent every night in your rooms on Skype with each other anyway" Jack said calmly. "You'd be happier actually being together."

Troy sighed but didn't say anything else.

"Talk to Gabriella about how you're feeling Troy" his father encouraged. "You can't make decisions like this on your own."

They realised they'd run further than they intended and picked up the pace as they turned towards home. "I'll talk to Gabriella while I'm at Stanford" Troy decided.

"You could leave the decision until she comes home after the honours program" Jack suggested.

"I have an appointment with the housing officer to look at flats in Haywood on Friday" Troy replied.

"I guess you better talk to Gabriella before Friday then but remember that you probably don't have to commit to a decision until August" Jack said puffing slightly. "Troy trust Gabriella, she'll tell you what she wants to do."

Troy brushed his hair as he changed after free period practice later that day noticing how long and scraggly it was getting. Making a quick decision he pulled out his phone and made an appointment for a haircut that afternoon.

He showed up for his appointment and hesitantly sat in the hairdressers chair when asked.

The hairdresser made idle conversation. "Hi I'm Joan. Are you getting your hair cut for a particular occasion?" she asked while setting up.

"I'm going to visit Gabriella on the weekend and I want to look good" Troy replied.

The hairdresser looked at him for a moment then asked. "Is Gabriella a current girlfriend or potential girlfriend? Or perhaps an ex-girlfriend you want to show what she's missing?"

"Current Girlfriend she's at Stanford for the freshman Honours program" he replied proudly, not wanting to deal with this gossipy stranger making a fuss about him being married at his age.

"So you want to make a good impression to compete with the college guys she's met?" Joan guessed.

Troy shook his head earning himself a frown. "I just want her to be proud to introduce me to her new friends" he said. "I don't want to embarrass her by looking like..." Troy shrugged not able to put his insecurities into words.

"Don't worry honey any girl in her right mind will be proud to be with such a gorgeous looking guy" Joan said reassuringly. "Do you have a particular look in mind?"

Troy shrugged "I want to look smarter" he said.

"You should be careful what you ask for. I could make you look geeky smart or did you mean you wanted to look scorching hot and sophisticated?" Joan teased as she started cutting.

"I don't want to look like a geek" Troy said quickly.

"Don't worry honey with that face I doubt you could even if you wanted to" Joan said reassuringly.

Troy sat quietly while Joan finished up her work and turned him back toward the mirror. He looked in the mirror and smiled. He looked much tidier and more mature just like he wanted. He hoped that Gabriella would like it.

He arrived home and went straight upstairs to finish the assignments and catch up work he'd been given by his teachers that day once he'd told them he'd be away.

Lucille looked up as he walked past "Do you want something to eat Troy?" she asked already reaching for the stuff to make him a snack.

"Sure Mama I'll just grab my books and come down and sit with you" Troy replied smiling.

"You've had your hair cut" she noticed smiling when she brought his snack into the dining room where Troy had spread out his books. "It looks lovely" she added running her fingers through it.

"Thanks Mom" Troy replied blushing slightly.

"Did you talk to your teachers about missing a couple of days school?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah most of them said they'd have the class work I'll miss for me to collect tomorrow. I got a couple of homework assignments already" Troy said gesturing to the pile of papers and books in front of him. "I've almost finished the work due this week so I can hand it all in early on Wednesday before I go."

"I'm so proud of the way you're taking responsibility for your work" Lucille said. "Gabriella has been a good influence on you."

Troy blushed slightly and nodded returning to his work to end the conversation.

That night Troy thought about putting on a beanie to hide his haircut so he could surprise Gabriella with it when he arrived in California but decided he'd rather show her straight away so he could stop worrying whether she'd like it.

He connected and found Gabriella already on-line.

"Hey Wildcat" she greeted him smiling.

"How was your first day?" he asked.

"Exhausting" Gabriella said sighing. "I'm so glad I did all of the pre-reading the classes were demanding and we have a lot of topics to research and read up on for tomorrow"

"I should let you go so you can do it before it gets too late" Troy said trying to be considerate and hide his disappointment that Gabriella didn't have time to talk to him. "Call me back when you get into bed, no matter how late it is. I'll leave the line open so just shout and wake me up" he added hopefully.

At first Gabriella was worried that Troy was making excuses not to spend time with her but when he asked her to call back realised that he was worried about her being able to get her work done. "It's okay Troy I've already done a lot of the work, it will only take me another hour" (or so) she added silently.

"So did you meet any new friends?" he asked glad she was willing to put off her work to talk to him.

"To be honest I spent most of the day with my room-mates Alia and Casey. We met a couple of other people in the library when we were researching though" Gabriella said.

"You didn't hang out with Sophia?" Troy queried.

"We walked across to class with her, but she sat with Ben and Stephen once she saw them" Gabriella replied laughing. "We had lunch with them but most of us wanted to hit the library so we didn't talk much"

"Gabriella I know you want to do your best and get perfect marks for the honours program and that you want to get your homework done early so you can spend time talking to me each night but you need to try to take advantage of living on campus too. You won't get another opportunity if we move in together next year" Troy said quietly.

"When we move in together next year" Gabriella said firmly.

Troy smiled "When" he agreed.

"You sound like my mother" Gabriella complained.

"I'll take that as a compliment" Troy teased. "You're mother is a very smart person" Troy said cheekily.

"Troy" Gabriella said crossly.

"I don't want to nag you. I'm just worried that you're going to regret agreeing to live off campus with me, I want you to be sure that you really want to" Troy said anxiously.

"Did your Mom and Dad put you up to this?"

"No I spoke to Dad. He said that he would like us to experience living on campus even if it was just for a semester but he didn't think it would do any good because we'd spend all our spare time visiting each other or in our rooms talking on Skype" Troy said.

"He's right Troy. I want to stay with you" Gabriella said gently.

"Okay but please try to enjoy living in the dorms for the next few weeks and spend some time with your new friends" Troy said pleadingly.

"Okay Troy I'll try" Gabriella promised.

"Okay I'll let you get your work done. I'll leave the link open on my side so we can talk when you're finished" Troy said.

"I'll talk to you later Troy" Gabriella said smiling.

"I love you Gabriella"

"I love you too" Gabriella said.

Gabriella looked at the Skype screen for a minute, she could see Troy sitting writing determinedly not looking up. She got out her reading and settled to work.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and Guest for your support.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella's phone rang about half an hour later. Checking the caller ID she saw it was Taylor. She looked up to see Troy had heard and stopped working. "It's Taylor" she told him.

"I'll go and let the two of you talk" he replied immediately and minimized his end of their connection.

"Hi Tay, How are you?" Gabriella greeted.

"How's the honours program?" Taylor asked excitedly. "I can't believe you're already at Stanford. Is it as wonderful as you hoped it would be?"

"The program itself is interesting but they've given us an awful lot of research to do for tomorrow" Gabriella replied.

"And have you made some friends. What's it like living in the dorm?" Taylor asked enthusiastically.

"Very inconvenient in the morning when four of us are trying to get ready with only one bathroom" Gabriella replied dryly.

"Oh Ha Ha! Seriously what's it like?"

"The other's are nice enough though we're all busy studying tonight, there isn't much time for socialising" Gabriella said seriously. "And you can't imagine the mess the bathroom was in this morning" she complained.

"You should be use to mess living with Troy" Taylor said critically.

"Troy's not Chad he picks up after himself" Gabriella declared.

"He's a boy" Taylor scoffed.

"Yes a boy who actually does more housework and cooking than I do most weeks" Gabriella said laughing at her friends shocked look.

"So are you enjoying the classes?" Taylor asked choosing not to say anything more about Troy.

"Yes they're great and the lecturers are fantastic" Gabriella said enthusiastically. "I'm glad I came though I miss Troy and everyone terribly."

"I told you so" Taylor said smiling "This was the right thing to do"

"Yes though it's still not easy to be away" Gabriella replied sighing.

"How many times have you rung Troy today?" Taylor asked.

"Not at all. I spoke to him earlier on Skype" Gabriella said defensively.

"Did I interrupt?" Taylor asked slightly guiltily.

"No I was doing the prep research for tomorrow" Gabriella replied.

"Do you have much more still to do?" Taylor asked

"About another hour I think" Gabriella said tiredly.

"I'll let you get it done and get some sleep then" Taylor said. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Thanks Taylor. I'll talk to you tomorrow" Gabriella said disconnecting and returning to her research.

Gabriella quickly and efficiently finished her research becoming absorbed in the topic especially now that she had the computer free to look up additional references. It was late by the time she finished.

She got ready for bed and remembering Troy's promise connected to Skype and saw him sleeping. "Troy" she called softly. She noticed his haircut and wondered how she had missed it earlier. It suited him.

"Mmm Gabriella" Troy murmured without waking.

"I love you Troy. Good night" she said.

"Mmm Love you" he said reaching out for her in his sleep.

Gabriella sat there watching him sleep for a few minuted then shut down her computer to try and sleep herself.

Troy rang Gabriella the next morning as she was eating breakfast.

"Good morning" Gabriella answered cheerfully.

"Morning Gabriella, you didn't ring me last night" he said sadly.

"Yes I did Troy I even had a conversation with you but you wouldn't wake up properly so I'm not surprised you don't remember" Gabriella said gently.

"Seriously we talked last night while I was sleeping? What'd I say?"

"Well you told me you love me and you promised to do all the cooking and laundry next year" Gabriella teased.

"Very funny Gabriella!" Troy responded dryly. "Seriously what did I say?"

"I love you"

"I love you too" Troy replied misunderstanding "But what did I say last night in my sleep?"

"That was it you said 'Gabriella I love you'" Gabriella explained laughing.

Troy laughed too, "I love you Gabriella" he said. "Were you up very late? I tried to stay awake"

"I'm sorry Troy. The research took a bit longer than I thought it would. And Taylor rang so I talked to her for a while" Gabriella admitted.

Troy grinned "And what did Miss McKessie have to say?" he asked teasingly.

"She wanted to know all about the honours program and what it was like to live in a college dorm" Gabriella replied.

"I hate to say this Troy, but I've got to finish getting ready."

"Okay I'll talk to you later" Troy said understandingly. "Hope I haven't made you late."

"Talking to your husband? Did he want to know where you'd put his fresh shirts?" Sophia asked teasingly as she came into the kitchen.

Gabriella laughed. "Of course not. He was just missing me" she said.

Troy impressed his teachers that day as he handed in completed homework assignments and gratefully collected the extra work they provided to make up the two days of school he would miss. "You do know that most students wouldn't bother with all this for only a couple of days?" Mrs Williams his math teacher asked at the end of the day.

Troy smiled "you've met my wife" he said. "She'd be really upset with me if I let my grades suffer to go and visit her."

"I thought Jack told me you had meetings with the housing officer and your new coach" Mrs Williams said suspiciously.

"I do ma'am. But I'm staying with Gabriella at Stanford" he said grinning.

"Well enjoy your trip" Mrs Williams said.

"Thank you I've got to go. Ms Darbus will have fits if I'm late to rehearsal. She's already mad I'm missing the next three days" Troy excused himself before hurrying off.

Rehearsals were long and difficult without Gabriella there to sort out the petty arguments and soothe disgruntled feelings. Working with Sharpay was very different to playing opposite Gabriella but Troy persevered knowing that he'd probably never have the opportunity to play lead roles with Gabriella again. It didn't help much that he didn't like or trust Sharpay as a person and acting the part of being her boyfriend was especially difficult and awkward. He enjoyed spending the breaks with Kelsi and Ryan who he'd become much closer friends with since marrying Gabriella. Kelsi had done a wonderful job transposing Gabriella's songs into the right key for Sharpay but the blonde diva was insisting that she jazz up the tempo and turn them into dance numbers. Kelsi stood up for herself and refused backed up by both Troy and Ryan.

Troy had to stop himself from bursting out laughing when Ryan suggested that if Sharpay wasn't enough of a professional to play the part and sing the songs as they had been written he would be glad to take her place and that it would be very easy for him to sing most of the songs in the key Kelsi had already transposed them to for Sharpay and he already knew all of the choreography so the substitution wouldn't cause a lot of extra work for any of them.

Troy expressed his willingness to play opposite Ryan stating that they worked well together in rehearsal when he'd been teaching Troy the dances.

Sharpay was left spluttering but Ms Darbus said that it was a possibility but she didn't think East High was quite ready for casting like that and she would give Sharpay one last chance to learn the role before she replaced her, selecting one of the juniors to understudy the role. "Troy will be away for the next three days so you have until Monday to make a decision Miss Evans. In the meantime I want you both here working on the songs and choreography with Miss Neilson and Mr Evans. I suggest you make a concerted effort to learn them they way they are supposed to be performed. It is the scriptwriter, songwriter and the choreographers place to make changes to a stage production Miss Evans. Something you will need to accept if you hope to make the stage your profession. I'm afraid I've been too lax about that in the past and have done you no favours. For that I apologise."

Ms Darbus then turned to the junior standing in the wings, "Miss Gold you have five days to learn the part otherwise I will have no choice but to give it to Mr Evans and risk the principle's disapproval if Miss Evans does not feel she can take direction like a real actress" she said handing over a copy of the script and a CD of the songs.

"Personally I think I'd rather work with Ryan" Troy whispered to Kelsi and Ryan causing them both to grin.

"And what about the kiss Wildcat?" Kelsi said teasingly.

"It's hard to kiss anyone who's not Gabriella I don't imagine kissing Ryan would be any worse" Troy replied. "I bet MsD would make you write it out anyway if she gave Ryan the part."

"She might not" Ryan warned.

"She would if you asked her too" Troy replied. "She has to be aware it could cause trouble"

In spite of being late for dinner, Troy took the long route home to drive past Alejandro's and was relieved to see signs of occupancy in the house. Evidently Alejandro had not followed Gabriella to California. Maybe he could be trusted a little more than they had so far. Still there were still two and a half weeks before Gabriella arrived home safely.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, old voldy's gone moldy, Kiara and 3 for your support.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Hi Gabriella how was your day" Troy said as he made the Skype connection.

"Hi handsome, I like the haircut" Gabriella said as she saw Troy.

"I had it done yesterday" Troy commented.

"Yeah I know I noticed last night while you were sleeping" Gabriella replied smiling.

"I'm sorry I didn't wake up" he apologised.

"That's fine Troy it was late and you looked tired when I spoke to you earlier last night" Gabriella reassured him.

"Did you have a good day?" Troy asked.

"Yeah it was great, the teachers all seemed happy with how prepared I was for class" Gabriella said smiling.

"So all the work last night was worth it then" Troy said agreeably "did they give you more homework tonight?"

Gabriella sighed "Yes unfortunately. But I definitely have time to talk to you before I start."

"Have you had dinner?" he asked.

"Yeah we cooked chicken and a salad together it was fun though there's not really room for four people in the kitchen I guess we should divide up next time" Gabriella said smiling.

"Have you made more friends?" Troy asked.

Gabriella shrugged "I've met some other people but I mostly spent time with Alia and Casey" she replied.

"Please tell me you didn't spend your free periods and lunch break in the library so you'd have time to talk to me tonight" Troy groaned at the evasive response.

"No Troy I had lunch with everyone outside in the courtyard. We did work some on one of the projects we've been given but mostly just to plan how we're going to go about it" Gabriella reassured him.

"Have you met anyone else that's going into premed?" Troy asked hopefully.

"Yeah Bree and Damon, we're paired up on one of our projects so I'll get to know them better over the next couple of weeks" Gabriella replied.

"Did you like them?" Troy asked.

"I guess, they seem well prepared for class so I think I can work well with them" Gabriella replied confidently.

Troy laughed at Gabriella's priorities. "That's good" he said.

"What about you how is school?" Gabriella asked.

"It's still standing" Troy said dismissively. "Rehearsal's been crazy, Sharpay's in full bitch mode she even pissed off Darbus today. Ryan and Kelsi say Hi."

"So are you enjoying it?" Gabriella said smiling.

"Not with Sharpay but Ryan and I had a lot of fun learning a new dance yesterday and Kelsi and I have been working on the changes to the songs" Troy said smiling at the memories.

"And how are the guy's?" Gabriella asked.

"Good we had a mini practice match at lunch today with the JV. Dad's trying to sort out the team for next year."

"So you haven't really hung out with everyone?" Gabriella said slightly disappointed that he couldn't tell her more about her friends. She was worried about Taylor who'd avoided any chat about herself on the phone the night before.

"There hasn't been any time to hang out" Troy replied then realised why she could be asking. "I haven't seen much of her but Taylor seems really stressed lately" he offered.

"Are she and Chad fighting?" Gabriella asked.

"Constantly and about all sorts of stupid stuff" Troy said grimacing. "She cancelled a date the other day because he was ten minutes late picking her up."

"Taylor has always hated Chad's lack of timekeeping skills" Gabriella said trying to make light of the problem.

"Yeah but she's overreacting to everything he does" Troy commented.

"Is it just Chad or everyone?" Gabriella asked concerned.

"I'm not sure it seems to be just Chad and me at the moment" Troy said then stopped as he realised what he'd admitted.

"And what have you done to piss Taylor off?" Gabriella asked laughing.

"It wasn't on purpose. I called Chad on Sunday to come over and play basketball and instead of telling me that he was at Taylor's he dropped everything and came over. Then Mom invited the Danforths for dinner so he was here until nine o'clock."

"That wasn't your fault" Gabriella protested angry that her friend would be so unfair to Troy.

"It kinda was. Chad thought I would need support with you having left that morning and Taylor thought he was being ridiculous. They had a fight over it" Troy said quietly.

"It and everything else! I refuse to let you feel guilty over this Troy. Chad could have told you he was with Taylor and made plans to meet you another time" Gabriella said firmly.

"Yeah you're right, it still feels like my fault though" Troy admitted.

"Try not to think of it. How did your practice game go?" she asked.

"Well Chad and I played with the JV against the rest of the senior team and we won but it was hard work. Dad wants to set up some different combinations" Troy replied.

"Of course it was you're not used to playing with them you don't automatically know each player's strengths and weaknesses like you do your regular team. You will have the same problems with your new team at first" Gabriella warned him.

"Yeah I guess. It takes a lot of training to make a team gel" Troy agreed.

"How are Jack and Lucille?" Gabriella asked to change the subject.

"They're great. Mom's been busy working she's got a new house to style for sale, so she's going to be out shopping most of the weekend. Do you want me to call them so you can talk to them?" Troy offered.

"Sure if they're not too busy" Gabriella said smiling.

"Okay I'll be back in a moment" Troy said before hurrying down the stairs. "Mom Dad do you want to come and say Hi to Gabriella?"

"I'll be up in a minute" Lucille said organising her work.

Jack turned off the TV and headed upstairs straight away. "Hey Gabriella. How are you enjoying Stanford?" he asked.

"Hey Jack. It's great though a lot more work than I expected" Gabriella replied smiling.

"I hope it's not all work" Jack said.

"No my roommates and I had fun trying to cook together tonight" Gabriella said laughing.

"Trying to cook, what are you talking about you can cook" Lucille said as she walked into the room.

"Not with four of us in a kitchen the size of your pantry. We were tripping over each other" Gabriella retorted.

Lucille smiled "I see that would present quite a challenge" she agreed.

Gabriella, Troy and Jack laughed.

"Are you getting enough sleep?" Lucille asked.

"I'm trying. I get a lot of work each night and it's hard to get to sleep. I may have to buy a hot water bottle" she said making light of her trouble sleeping. She had real trouble sleeping in the little single bed on her own having become used to Troy's warmth next to her at night and missing the feeling of safety he gave her.

"We won't keep you then don't stay up too late studying Gabriella" Lucille said.

"Goodnight Lucille Troy told me you had a new styling project"

"Yes and I'm going to miss your company shopping this weekend" Lucille replied. "Good night."

"Night Gabriella take care of yourself" Jack added.

"Goodnight Jack you look tired" Gabriella said concerned.

"Yes well my son keeps dragging me out to run earlier and earlier I think he's having as much trouble sleeping as you are" Jack said making the young couple blush.

"Sorry Dad, I'll let you have a day off tomorrow" Troy said guiltily.

"I don't mind running with you Troy" Jack protested. "I want you to wake me up if you want me to come."

"Don't worry Dad, I'm going to try a bit harder to get back to sleep if I wake up early" Troy replied knowing he needed to try to sleep later if he was going to be up half the night driving.

"Night Troy, don't keep Gabriella up too late" his mother said kissing the top of his head on her way out.

"Night Troy night Gabriella try to get some sleep" Jack said also leaving and closing the door behind him.

"I should let you get some study done" Troy said unwillingly.

"I love you Troy. I'll try to talk to you again when I'm done" Gabriella replied.

"I'll try to stay awake for it" Troy promised.

"No don't, you look tired. I want you to sleep if you can" Gabriella said "I won't be upset if you're asleep."

"I actually did sleep better last night" Troy said "Maybe talking to you in my sleep helped.

Gabriella smiled "Did you dream of me?" she asked.

"Always" Troy said seriously.

"Okay, leave the link open and I'll talk to you when I finish what I've got to do for tomorrow" Gabriella promised.

They both got out their homework and sat working quietly through it looking up and smiling at each other every now and again exchanging a few words as they caught the other watching them.

As expected Troy finished his work first even with the added assignments he'd been given to make up for missing a few days school. He was determined to do as much of the extra work as possible before he left so he wouldn't have too much to do while he was with Gabriella.

"I'm done, I'm going to take a quick shower" he said.

"Okay Troy, see you soon" Gabriella said without looking up from her reading.

Troy showered and packed up his extra toiletries for the trip knowing that he couldn't pack his clothes and stuff from his room without giving the surprise away. Gabriella was amazingly perceptive. He returned to his room wrapped in the towel and pottered around packing his gym bag and sorting and putting away his schoolwork.

"Hey Sexy" Gabriella said stopping work to watch him.

Troy turned to the computer and smiled. "Hey beautiful" he replied.

"Are you ready for bed?" she asked.

"Yeah, look away for a minute while I move the computer" he said dropping his towel and getting into bed before turning the computer so Gabriella could see his face.

"How am I supposed to concentrate on study when you're looking like that?" Gabriella complained teasingly.

Troy grinned "Like what? I'm going to bed" he said a little too innocently.

"Troy put some pants on, please" she begged.

"Oh okay" Troy replied grinning wickedly and threw the covers back as he got out and put on his boxers slowly in full view of Gabriella the whole time.

Gabriella groaned but didn't look away.

Troy climbed back into bed and blew her a kiss "Goodnight Gabi I love you" he said. "Talk to you in my dreams."

"Goodnight Troy Sleep well" she replied blowing him a kiss.

A/N: Thankyou to Punpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, iminlove13 and broadwaybaby2010 for your support.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy rushed through his run on Wednesday morning and after showering quickly he efficiently used the list he'd been preparing all week to pack the things he'd need for his trip to California before going downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning Mom" he said cheerfully as he entered the kitchen

Lucille smiled at his positive mood, something which had been lacking over the last few days.

"Good morning Troy" she said.

"Where's Dad?" he asked noticing they were alone.

"Still in the shower he just got back from his run seeing as you didn't wake him this morning" Lucille replied dryly.

Troy shrugged apologetically "I went out early I couldn't sleep" he explained.

"Have you spoken to all of you teachers about missing the next few days?"

"Yes Mom" Troy replied rolling his eyes his mother had reminded him to do this the last two days now. "I've spoken with everyone, handed in early the assignments I had due Friday been given the reading to make up for the classes I'll miss and packed my bag. I'm ready to leave straight after school."

"I thought you'd go tomorrow and travel during the day. I don't want you driving at night what happens if you break down?" Lucille said surprised.

"Mom I'll be on a major highway. It'll hardly be isolated" Troy responded patiently.

"What if you fall asleep at the wheel? You haven't slept well all week" Lucille protested.

"Don't worry so much if I get tired I'll stop and sleep. And I can't sleep well without Gabriella so one more night won't help" Troy argued.

"Are you planning to sleep in your truck? What if someone breaks into it while you're asleep?" Lucille asked.

"Mom, don't be ridiculous no one's going to try and break into and steal my truck. Take a look at it, would you believe there was likely to be anything valuable inside" It was hard for Troy to disparage his beloved truck like that but he really needed his mom to agree to let him go tonight the sooner he left the sooner he'd see Gabriella.

"Okay Troy but I want you to come home after school before you go" Lucille said sighing resignedly.

"But Mom" Troy protested.

"No I mean it Troy. I'll pack you a dinner and some snacks to take and I want you to come home and get them" Lucille said firmly, then asked "How much phone credit do you have?"

"Plenty" Troy responded after checking his phone.

"I want you to text me every hour until you stop for the night" Lucille demanded.

"Mom I don't need you to sit up half the night worrying about me" Troy protested.

"Troy I'm going to be up worrying whether you call or not. I'm serious about this Troy I want you to promise to text me your location every hour and let me know when you're stopping to eat and sleep" Lucille said seriously.

"Okay Mom I promise to text and not to do anything crazy" Troy agreed.

"You do realise it's going to take all night you'll be lucky to get there before she has to leave for class in the morning?" Lucille questioned.

"I know Mom I just need to see her. To know she's okay she doesn't sound happy on the phone" Troy said frowning worriedly.

Lucille had to agree Gabriella hadn't sounded happy when she'd spoken to her either. "Well you seem to have thought this through. You need to tell your father though and get his permission as well. I have an early client so I have to go. I'll see you after school" Lucille said briskly kissing him on the cheek.

"Bye Mom I love you" Troy said hugging her.

"I love you too Troy. Promise me you'll drive safely" she asked.

"I promise Mama" Troy said sincerely.

Troy rushed out of his final class and straight to his truck having already collected the things he needed from his locker. He smiled to himself thinking how surprised and impressed Gabriella would be if she knew about how organised he was today.

He drove home and hurried inside to collect his bags from his room and was throwing them in the passenger seat when his Mom came out with an esky and an insulated bag and a paper bag.

"What's all that?" he asked surprised.

"Cookies for the trip" Lucille told him holding up the paper bag. "This is your dinner, there's a curry and a thermos of soup for later this evening" she said indicating the insulated bag. "The things in the esky are for Gabriella there's a lasagne and some soup and some curry so she doesn't have to cook for herself every night next week. They're packed in ice but get some more tomorrow morning if you stop for the night and put them straight into Gabriella's freezer when you get to Stanford. These meals aren't for you Troy they are for next week when she's busy with homework" his mother scolded.

"That's fine Mama. I'll cook for Gabriella while I'm there and I expect we'll eat out one night too" Troy agreed cheerfully.

"Promise me you won't interfere with her studies, you know how much work she's had each night. You need to let her be prepared for classes on Friday and I don't know how much extra she'll have for the weekend" Lucille said firmly.

"I promise Mom. I've packed some assignments to do for next week myself."

Lucille handed Troy an envelope "For emergencies in case you break down somewhere and can't fix your truck and need to take the bus the rest of the way" she explained.

"Dad already gave me some money" Troy protested.

"Then I expect to get this back on Sunday if your truck survives the journey. I'm sorry I can't afford to loan you my car for the trip" Lucille said worriedly.

"Thanks Mom" he said kissing her cheek.

"If you break down in the first two hours call and I'll come get you and drive you to the airport and you can go on standby" she said.

"Okay I will" he said hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"Drive carefully and promise me that you'll stop the minute you start to feel drowsy" Lucille said anxiously.

"I promise"

"Don't forget to ring or text me every hour until you stop for the night" she demanded.

"I will Mom don't worry" Troy said hugging his mother.

"And don't you dare text me you're stopping for the night and keep driving Troy" she said sternly.

"I wouldn't do that Mom" Troy protested.

"Did you say goodbye to your father. Maybe you should wait he'll be home soon"

"Mom I'm wasting daylight. I saw Dad at school this afternoon. He knows I planned to be gone before he gets home" Troy said climbing into his truck and starting the engine. "I'll text you when I get to Grants" he said.

Lucille stepped back allowing Troy to shut the door and reverse out of the drive "Bye Mom. See you Sunday" he yelled out the open window as he left.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, broadwaybaby2010, Aly12 and Guest for your support.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

A/N: This chapter is just Troy driving if you want you can skip it. His meeting with Gabriella will be posted tomorrow.

-o0o-

Troy drove out of the city before he investigated the paper bag his mother had given him, smiling when he saw she'd given him a whole batch worth of his favourite chocolate cookies. Munching on a cookie he heads west. Just over an hour later he stops to text his mother.

"In Grants, text next from Gallup 1 hour"

His phone rings as he's about to pull back onto the road and he stopped to answer it.

"Hi Dad" he said patiently.

"Hi Troy how's the traffic? Is your truck running well?"

"Yeah it is, the tune-up you gave it worked a treat" he replied startling his father who didn't know that he was aware of him sneaking out the last couple of nights to tinker with the truck. Normally he and Troy would have enjoyed tinkering on the truck together but Jack hadn't wanted to interfere with all the extra work he'd been given for planning to miss school so had worked on the truck without telling him.

Jack laughed "I should have known I couldn't get anything by you" he said. "Drive safely, we'll call again when you stop to eat."

"Mom gave me a huge bag of cookies so I'll probably stop in Holbrook" Troy replied. "Bye Dad thanks for tuning up the truck."

The drive was uneventful except that he was driving into the sunset. He considered stopping and waiting for it to set until he realised it would be well over an hour until it set completely. An hour later he text again "In Gallup, not stopping will text Holbrook 6.45ish"

Driving and munching on cookies he made good time and pulled up to a rest stop in Holbrook a few minuted early. The sun had almost set and it was starting to get dark so he made use of the facilities and got out his curry before he text his parents "In Holbrook Stop 2 eat."

This time it was his mom that returned the call.

"Hey Mom, thanks for the great curry" Troy said enthusiastically.

"How are you going Troy? Are you starting to feel tired?" Lucille asked concerned.

"I'm fine Mom. The last half hour or so was a little hairy driving into the sun but it'll be gone by the time I finish eating" Troy reassured her.

"Promise you'll stop and text us if you start to feel sleepy" she demanded again.

"Yes Mom I promise. I'll text you again from Flagstaff, it should take me about an hour and a quarter to get there. I'll let you know if there's a delay" he said getting a little frustrated with her constant reminders.

"Promise to pull over to text" she said next.

"Yes Mom" Troy replied patiently.

"And don't forget to ring Gabriella a bit later or she'll start to worry" Lucille added.

"Mooom" Troy groaned.

"Bye darling hear from you soon" Lucille said and disconnected before Troy could say anything else.

From Flagstaff he text "in Flagstff stop talk Gabi"

"Hey Troy. You're not Skyping. Where are you?" Gabriella asked greeting him.

"Sitting in my truck, I'm at Chad's" Troy lied crossing his fingers and hoping she didn't question him further he hated lying to her even if it was for a surprise and to stop her from sitting up worrying all night like his mom was.

"Out on a school night, are you having a sleepover?" she teased.

"guys don't do sleepovers they crash at a friend's" Troy protested the girlie words instead of answering the question.

"Are you staying at Chad's?" Gabriella asked laughing.

"Nah probably not. But we've got a lot of work to do on a project so I'll probably be pretty late"

"And let me guess you haven't started yet and it's due tomorrow" Gabriella said crossly.

"Ummm" Troy said guiltily. Fortunately Gabriella assumed he felt guilty about admitting he'd left his homework until the last minute not because he was lying about the whole project.

"Well get to work" she lectured. "I'll leave the Skype open and you can Skype me in my sleep and give me good dreams tonight" she added cheekily.

"Night Gabriella. I love you. I'll talk to you later" he said feeling a little sad that he wouldn't be able to Skype a half asleep Gabriella.

"Good night Troy. I love you" Gabriella replied almost glad that Troy was busy with Chad and the last minute homework so she didn't have to tell him that she didn't have time to talk to him again tonight. Now hopefully she could almost finish the week's research assignments tonight and have time to hang out on Skype tomorrow.

Troy disconnected and text his mom "Back on road text fm Kingman 10.30"

At Kingman he got out of the car and spent a minute jogging to wake himself up thoroughly before texting his parents "In Kingman, feeling good text from Needles I hour"

Jack immediately rang him back.

"Hey Dad" he said cheerfully.

"Hi Troy how're you going?" Jack asked relieved to hear that Troy didn't sound tired or sleepy.

"I feel wide awake and there's hardly any traffic. I should be in California in about an hour" Troy replied enthusiastically. "Have you convinced Mom to get some sleep?"

Jack sighed "Yes but I promised to wake her when I go to bed" he replied. "She's going to worry when she finds out you're still driving."

"I know Dad but honestly I feel great and you know I don't sleep as much anymore" Troy replied.

"It's been months since you used to get up and visit Gabriella in the middle of the night are you still waking up?" Jack asked concerned.

"Not every night but a lot of the time yeah. It's fine Dad I don't mind lying awake when Gabriella's there."

"That's why you've had so much trouble sleeping these past few days"

"Yeah I wake up and she's not there and something in my subconscious thinks I need to get up and go visit her" Troy admitted.

"Well you subconscious should be happy at least" Jack said lightly not wanting to get into a deep conversation and delay his son. "Drive carefully."

"Will do. Night Dad" Troy replied disconnecting and getting back onto the road.

In spite of what he'd told his father Troy was starting to feel tired. He found an interesting talk back radio show and laughed at the way the host dealt with the late night callers. He made good time and text just after tem past eleven. "In needles stopping 2 eat."

He was a little surprised and very relieved that it was his father who called back again.

"Hey Dad"

"Hey Troy are you stopping for the night?"

"I'm eating the soup Mom made me. It's very good" Troy replied.

"I'll take that as a no" his father said dryly. "At least tell me you're not starting to feel sleepy"

"No I've been listening to a talk back radio relationship advice line. I don't know why anyone would ring in though the host rips into the callers something fierce. It's funny to listen to" Troy said laughing.

"You'd be surprised some of them probably call regularly" Jack said.

"I think they'd be more concerned that there other half was listening" Troy said.

"Enough trying to change the subject, Drive carefully and pull over the minute you start to feel even the slightest bit sleepy. Don't try to tough it out until the next stop" Jack said firmly.

"I will Dad I promise. Thank Mom for the soup"

"Goodnight Troy. I'll talk to you tomorrow. When shall I tell Lucille to expect your call?"

"I should be in Ludlow by about half past twelve" Troy replied.

"Okay then I'll stay up until just after midnight and then wake your mother so she doesn't have too much time to work herself up" his father promised.

"Thanks Dad. Goodnight"

"Night Troy"

Troy stopped twice on the way to Ludlow to get out and jog around the car but found that it was more boredom than actual tiredness.

He text his mother "In Ludlow will text Barstow 1hour" and hoped she wouldn't call to complain.

"Troy you promised to stop and sleep" Lucille said as soon as he answered the call.

"I'll stop in Barstow" Troy compromised.

"Troy..."

"Mom I feel good. There's next to no traffic and it's good road" he said not mentioning that most of the other traffic was of the 16 wheeler variety. "I promise I'll stop on the side of the road and call you the minute I feel sleepy"

"Okay Troy text me if you stop for the night. I'll be up waiting to hear from you" his mother said applying the pressure to make sure he stopped and rested.

Troy was very tired by the time he got to Barstow. He found a truck stop and pulled into one of the corners where trucks pulling in and out wouldn't shine their lights into his eyes and Text his mother. "In Barstow stopping to sleep. Talk 2morrow." He received a text back "Nite Troy thnx 4 text." He got out his sleeping bag and curled up on the seat and was soon sleeping soundly.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Californiapoppy5, Love the Story, Wildcats2016 and MorganAtlanta-xx for your support.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy as usual was up well before dawn. He cleaned up as best he could using the cold water of the truck stop facilities and bought himself a light breakfast. He was back on the road heading to Stanford by half past four. He thought about not letting his parents know that he was awake and driving so early but he'd promised so he texted his Dad knowing he'd be the first awake.

"Good morning will be in Mojave 5.45"

He smiled when he didn't receive a reply and turned onto the highway.

Just over an hour later he pulled into a service station and filled up with Gas and brought a second breakfast. He text his father "In Mojave, stopped for breakfast and to replace the ice in the esky." He didn't receive a text or call back so assumed his father had chosen not to run that morning after his late night waiting up for Troy to call. Troy felt a little guilty that he'd deprived his parents of sleep and made them worry about him. He finished eating and text "on road expect Bakersfield 6.35."

The traffic was still light and he made good time pulling into Bakersfield just before six thirty. This time when he text his father Jack called back.

"Hey Dad"

"Hey Son. You had a pretty early morning, did you get enough sleep?" Jack asked concerned.

"Yeah I feel great" Troy said exaggerating how good he felt.

"Troy" Jack said interrogatingly.

"Seriously Dad I slept well enough. I'm wide awake and I should be there mid morning" Troy replied calmly.

"How are you going to meet Gabriella, she'll be in class?" Jack asked.

"She gave me her schedule and a map of where her classes are. If I can get there in time to meet her as she comes out for break at 11. She has to walk almost past her dorm so hopefully she'll let me in. If I don't get there in time I'll nap in the truck and meet her at lunch" Troy said.

"Okay Troy drive carefully it will be peak hour traffic soon. When should I expect to hear from you next?" Jack asked.

"I'll ring on the hour I don't know how much the traffic will hold me up I hope to be at the turn off at Los Banos by nine o'clock" Troy replied.

"I'll hear from you in an hour. I won't ring back. Set up the text now so you only have to push send so you don't have to try and get to the side of the road and then back into the flow of traffic."

"Thanks Dad. Talk to you later" Troy said smiling.

"Bye Troy" Jack said disconnecting the call.

Troy found that he was still making good time but that driving in the increasing traffic was much more tiring than driving on empty roads and he couldn't find a radio channel that held his interest. He sent the prearranged text on time and at 8.30 stopped for a coke and called his mom.

"Good morning Troy" she said.

"Hi Mom morning" Troy said cheerfully.

"Where are you?"

"Still on the I5 about half an hour until the turnoff to the 152" Troy explained. "I'm making good time I should be in Stanford about a quarter to eleven in time to meet Gabriella."

"Are you feeling okay?" Lucille asked hearing tiredness in his voice.

"I slept okay" Troy hedged.

"Troy you haven't slept well since Gabriella left and you're expecting me to believe you slept well cramped up in the front of your truck?" Lucille asked incredulously.

"You're right Mom but I did sleep and I'm okay for the moment" Troy said firmly.

"Troy, Gabriella will still be there at lunchtime if you don't make it before eleven. Please don't push yourself too hard. Stop and nap if you need to" Lucille lectured.

"I will Mama and I'll call to let you know if I stop. Otherwise I'll contact you in an hour" Troy said.

"Okay Troy I'll be waiting for your text" Lucille said. "Take care."

"Bye Mom" Troy replied.

Troy edged back into the traffic feeling refreshed after getting out of the car and walking around while he talked with his mother. Traffic was heavy at first and Troy was frustrated at the lack of progress but it got lighter again and he reached the turnoff on schedule. He sent a pre-prepared text to his Mom and turned onto the 152 heading for San Jose and Stanford.

It was 11.40 when he reached Stanford and he text his Mom and Dad both to let them know he's arrived. Consulting the map he'd downloaded and the schedule Gabriella had given him he jogged towards the building Gabriella would be coming out of.

He found a good vantage spot in the shade and leaned on a wall to wait.

-o0o-

Gabriella and her new classmates walked out of the building after their early morning classes. It was 11 o'clock and they had the next half hour free. They headed towards the courtyard enjoying the warm sunshine.

"OMG he's so hot" Sophia exclaimed about a boy off on their right out of Gabriella's sight.

The others just all rolled their eyes at their new friend; in the week since they'd met Sophia had made dozens of similar comments.

"No I'm serious this has got to be the hottest guy I've seen yet, you have to at least look" Sophia begged them.

"Married woman here Soph" Gabriella reminded her friend smiling.

"You can still look" Alia argued. She believed that Gabriella had been pushed into an arranged marriage to have got married so young and she didn't like the fact that her new friend would miss out on such a large part of the normal college experience.

"Yeah Sophia's right he's totally gorgeous" Casey added staring at the guy.

Gabriella glanced over to appease her friends, and then stopped in shock as she recognised the man her friends were admiring. She stood there astonished as she tuned out her friends conversation.

"It wouldn't matter if you were free. This guy's way out of our league" Casey said to her though Gabriella didn't hear.

"He looks like a jock he's not going to be interested in any of us" Alia commented. "And I doubt I'd be interested in him for very long either if he actually tried to speak to us" she added derogatively.

"I wish he'd take off the cool shades so we could see the rest of his face" Sophia complained.

"You'd only be disappointed there's no way his face could be as gorgeous as his body" Alia told her.

"Are you okay?" Casey asked Gabriella, realising that she'd stopped walking or responding to them.

"Troy! Over here" she called, still not sure she believed her eyes. This definitely explained why he had called her last night instead of Skyping. 'Working on a last minute assignment with Chad indeed' she thought.

The extremely hot guy in aviator shades looked over, then smiled and headed in their direction taking off his glasses and hooking them in the pocket of his backpack.

"I was wrong he's better looking without the glasses" Alia admitted quietly.

"And that smile is to die for" Casey agreed.

"You know him? Please, please introduce me." Sophia begged quietly.

"I don't know if I should" Gabriella said looking at her now overexcited friend.

"Why not? You're married. You can't want him for yourself." Sophia said making Gabriella laugh internally.

"Shh, act cool he'll hear you and think we're cheerleaders or something" Casey hissed at Sophia.

Troy reached them and wrapped his arms around Gabriella. She reached up and pulled his face down in to her kiss.

"You're so crazy Wildcat! What on earth are you doing here?"she babbled still shocked. "Oh I've missed you so much" she exclaimed continuing to pepper his face with small kisses.

"I've missed you too" he replied kissing her more deeply before asking reluctantly. "Do you have class to get to? I promised Maria and Mom that I wouldn't let you skip any classes just because I was here."

Gabriella kissed him again before she answered. "No not until half past eleven. Do you want me to show you over to the dorms so you can sleep? Or do you need to eat first?" she replied seeing how tired he looked and knowing he'd probably been driving all night.

Troy smiled and nodded "Sleep sounds wonderful, I think I'm actually too tired to eat anything" he admitted.

"That's got to be a first" Gabriella said forcing a laugh to hide her concern. "I have an hour off at one and then finish for the day at four. Do you want me to wake you for lunch?" she asked.

"No wake me when you get off at four and we can go for a cheeseburger or something then" Troy suggested.

"Okay then it's this way" she said moving away from his hug and taking his hand to lead him across the campus.

The other girls had watched this enthusiastic greeting with shock. Gabriella clearly was in a relationship with this hot young jock, but who was he?

They had all automatically dismissed the thought that he could be her husband. He looked like a player, too good looking, clearly very athletic and moved with confidence and innate grace even in an unfamiliar environment. Sophia had told she'd seen Gabriella talking to her husband on Skype and that he looked older than them with dark hair and glasses. Gabriella had described Troy as thoughtful, gentle and romantic, a future drama major who loved to sing and perform. As a result they had mistakenly pictured him as being a bit of a geek. Also believing Gabriella's marriage had been arranged they had assumed that her husband would be a distant relative or long term family friend from the same ethnic background as the Montez family. This gorgeous, incredibly hot, blond all American man was not in any way what any of them expected her husband to be like.

Surely Gabriela wouldn't be cheating on her husband. They hadn't known her long enough to be positive but she didn't seem the type of girl to cheat, even if she didn't love her husband.

Gabriella finally noticed the disapproving stares her friends were giving them and frowned wondering why they seemed unhappy with her.

She turned to face them and asked "What's wrong?"

"Were you planning to introduce us? I know you said it was a bad idea, but I had thought you were just joking. I think you should..." Sophia trailed off uncertainly not wanting to upset her new friend but also not able to support the idea of Gabriella having an affair.

"It would be very bad manners to ignore us to make out with him and then not even introduce us to him. Don't you agree?" Alia turned to ask the others who nodded in agreement.

Gabriella laughed, "Okay" she turned to Troy "These clowns are my new friends" she said knowing that he would recognise them from their profiles on the webpage about the honours program. The blonde is Sophia, the manners police here is Alia, and Casey is the redhead who hasn't spoken." She paused while Troy greeted the girls.

"Pleased to meet you?" he said putting his hand out. None of them reacted still looking at Gabriella waiting for her to finish the introduction.

"Girls this is my husband Troy Bolton" Gabriella said frowning as she noticed their lack of welcome for Troy.

They stared at Gabriella in surprise for a minute before realising they were rudely ignoring Troy.

"Pleased to meet you too?" flirted Sophia, she knew she had no chance with him but flirting with cute guys was second nature.

Alia smiled slightly and shook his hand without saying anything then turned to Gabriella "You didn't tell us he was coming" she demanded.

"You didn't tell us he was so hot" added Sophia.

"I didn't know he was coming" Gabriella answered Alia while rolling her eyes at Sophia.

"Albuquerque is a long way from here, that's one hell of a surprise visit." Casey said softly

Gabriella smiled "Yeah" she agreed dreamily.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara and Guest for your support.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Come on I'll show you to the dorm" Gabriella said.

Troy picked up the esky "Mom sent you some stuff" he said gesturing to it.

"I'll call her and thank her at lunchtime" Gabriella answered smiling.

They walked towards her dorm "Are you girls coming or did you want to grab a coffee before class and I'll meet you there?" Gabriella asked.

"I need coffee" Casey said almost apologetically, "otherwise I'm going to fall asleep in Thompson's lecture for sure. Do you want me to get you one Gabriella?"

"No thanks. I'll get Troy settled. None of you mind Troy staying in the dorm while we're in class do you?" she asked anxiously.

"I don't mind. If you say we can trust him that's good enough for me" Alia said supportively.

"Yeah me too" Casey agreed.

"I certainly don't mind sharing a dorm with a hottie like that" Sophia flirted.

"You're wasting your time there. He's not interested Soph" Alia said noticing that Troy had barely taken his eyes off Gabriella.

"Yeah, this one's a keeper Gabriella" Sophia said, he hasn't paid the slightest attention to my flirting. She turned to Troy and said "I don't mean it you know. I wouldn't want to cause you and Gabriella problems."

Troy smiled at her for the first time "Yeah Gabriella told me you couldn't help yourself" he teased.

"Hey" Sophia said angrily.

"What else has Gabriella told you?" Alia asked.

Troy shrugged "She tells me all sorts of things about her days. She wouldn't have told me anything you told her in confidence though" he reassured them.

"How long are you staying?" Gabriella asked.

"Until Sunday morning if that's okay with you. I promised Mom and Dad I'd be home before eleven o'clock Sunday night so I'll need to leave pretty early so I have time to stop for a while and sleep if I need to" Troy replied.

"Did you drive all night?" Gabriella asked.

"I left straight after school and I got about three hours sleep" Troy said tiredly.

"You slept in your car?" Alia asked surprised.

"The bench seat in my truck's pretty comfortable" Troy commented.

"You drove your truck?" Gabriella asked astonished.

"Yeah it's running really well. Dad gave it a tune-up last week" Troy said smiling proudly.

Gabriella shook her head smiling and hoped his beloved truck didn't break down on him on the way home.

They entered the dorm lounge and Troy looked around curiously surprised by the clutter. This room didn't seem to fit with Gabriella at all and he wondered if this was also a reason Gabriella spent so much time in her bedroom studying. They walked through into the bedroom and Troy laughed at the difference "Wow you weren't joking when you called it a closet" he said covering up the real reason he'd laughed not wanting to cause problems between the girls.

Gabriella laughed too "It looks even smaller with you here" she said turning back the bed. Troy stripped off his clothes and lay down and Gabriella covered him up kissing his forehead.

"I'll make you a sandwich in case you get hungry. Don't eat any of the junk food unless you plan to replace it because none of it is mine" she warned him.

"There should be some cookies in the esky Mom sent" Troy said sleepily.

"And you didn't eat them all on the way?" Gabriella asked teasingly.

"I'm not Dad" Troy protested. "Mom gave me some separately. Whatever's in the esky is for you. I didn't even look until this morning when I replaced the ice."

"I love you Troy" Gabriella said overcome by the fact he'd driven fifteen hours to visit her. "I can't believe Jack and Lucille would let you skip two days of school to visit me."

Troy looked sheepish "They wouldn't" he agreed. "I organised meetings with my coaches for tomorrow so they had to let me come and I've got make up assignments from all my teachers."

"When exactly did you organise this?" Gabriella asked suspiciously.

"The morning after I found out you were coming to do the honours program" he admitted.

"So you knew when I left on Sunday that you were coming to visit me this weekend?" Gabriella questioned.

"Yeah I wanted it to be a surprise" Troy confirmed. "You're not mad are you?" he asked anxiously.

"Of course not it was a wonderful surprise" Gabriella said beaming at him.

"I won't get in your way. I know you'll have lots of work to do tonight and over the weekend. I brought work of my own to do too so you won't feel guilty" Troy promised.

Gabriella sat on the side of the bed and kissed him passionately then said "I have to go before you tempt me too much to skip class and join you. Get some sleep and I'll see you just after four."

"I love you Gabriella" Troy said closing his eyes and smiling.

Gabriella efficiently unpacked the esky marvelling at the sheer amount of meals Lucille had sent. She probably wouldn't have to cook at all the rest of the time there unless she shared it with her friends. She made Troy a couple of chicken salad sandwiches and covered them with clingwrap leaving them with a bottle of water on the desk beside the bed. She smiled to see that Troy was already asleep and left for class.

Gabriella gave Lucille a quick call as she walked across the campus to class.

"Hi Gabriella" Lucille answered cheerfully.

"Hi Lucille, thank you for all the food. I really was doing aright with cooking for myself you know" Gabriella said.

"I know you can look after yourself Gabriella but you spend so much time studying I just wanted to make things a little easier for you. Now you're welcome to share with your flatmates but Troy knows I didn't send it for him. He wanted to come and look after you not to expect you to look after him" Lucille said.

Gabriella laughed "Did you really think he needed to be told to look after me?" she asked disbelievingly.

"No but I know how he can eat" Lucille replied.

"I can't believe that you let Troy drive his truck all this way" Gabriella said changing the subject.

"I felt terrible about it but there was just no way I could lend him my car this week" Lucille admitted apologetically. "And Jack thought Troy needs to realise that his truck is not reliable enough to use next year at college."

"And yet he must have spent a lot of time tuning it up. Troy said it's running better than it ever has" Gabriella commented.

Lucille sighed "Yes I think he was hoping Troy would at least get close enough to be able to catch the bus the rest of the way. And then catch the bus home again. Now I have to worry about him driving that far again" she said tiredly. Gabriella realised that Troy was not the only one that had been up most of the night because of this visit.

"I've got to go Luce class is about to start. Get some rest you sound tired" Gabriella told her as she walked into the classroom.

"Bye Hon talk to you soon" Lucille said smiling at her daughter-in-law's concern.

"Bye Lucille" Gabriella said.

There was no time to talk in class (and her friends knew that the conscientious Gabriella would refuse to) so other than curious looks Gabriella was left in peace until lunchtime.

"Are you going back to the dorms for lunch?" Alia asked.

"No Troy drove most of the night. I'll wake him up when we finish for the day" Gabriella explained.

"If I had a hottie like that waiting for me I wouldn't be out eating lunch with friends" Sophia said smirking.

"Believe me I'd love to go and curl up with Troy but if I did that I wouldn't be able to drag myself back out of bed for class this afternoon" Gabriella said not even blushing. "I'm so tired. I'd fall asleep the minute I lay down."

"That's all you'd do? Sleep?" Casey asked incredulously.

"Yeah Troy's exhausted I wouldn't want to wake him up" Gabriella replied.

"So he really drove all that way just to see you?" Alia asked.

"Drove all night too? Must have been pretty keen" Casey added.

"Why'd he come?" Sophia asked.

"He's meeting with his coach tomorrow" Gabriella said.

"So it's just a coincidence he's here now and it's convenient that you're here so he has a place to stay" Alia said suspiciously.

"No he didn't really need to meet with the coach in person at all until the week before classes start next year. He organised it so his parents would allow him to miss school to visit me without making too much fuss and it wouldn't affect his grades. He came because he wanted to surprise me. He knew that leaving him to come here was incredibly difficult for me" Gabriella defended her husband's motives.

"So does this mean you're not going to come out for pizza with everyone tonight?" Sophia asked.

Gabriella shrugged "I'll talk to Troy see what he feels like"

"He's a boy No boy in the history of America has turned down pizza without very good reason" Casey declared.

"No boy ever chooses pizza over sex either" Alia retorted.

"I think he'll want to come and meet my new friends" Gabriella said thoughtfully.

"Meet or vet?" Sophia asked.

"I've had friends Troy didn't really like before and he's been okay with it" Gabriella replied.

"And he didn't try to stop you from seeing them?"

"No he made an effort to get to know Ryan himself. He said if I liked him then he must be worth making an effort to be friendly himself. They get along really well now" Gabriella said defensively. "Sophia I know that your Mom had it tough but Troy's not like that. He has supported every decision I've made in the whole time I've known him. Please don't judge him until you get to know him."

Sophia sighed "I'm sorry Gabriella. You're right I will give Troy a chance."

"I will too" Alia said "I'm sorry for being so suspicious."

"I have a question though. Sophia said your husband had dark hair and glasses and looked older?" Casey stated.

"I never told you anything about what Troy looked like Sophia?" Gabriella said surprised looking at her friend questioningly.

"I peeked in to say goodnight that first night and you were talking on Skype. I though you must be talking to your husband since you said your father is Cuban and this looked like an American" Sophia explained.

Gabriella thought for a moment then pulled her phone out and scrolled through the photos "Is this him?" she asked showing Sophia the picture.

"Yeah I think that's him though he didn't look that old the other night" Sophia confirmed.

"That's Troy's Dad Jack. I was Skyping with Troy and he came in to say hello" Gabriella said.

"You two sounded pretty close" Sophia said.

"Yeah we are. We've been living with them since Christmas. Jack's been a great support since they found out about the marriage" Gabriella said smiling. He's more my Dad now than my real father is.

"Since they found out. So your marriage wasn't arranged?" Alia asked surprised.

"Not to Troy" Gabriella said laughing. "My father arranged a marriage between me and one of his business associates. Troy and I were devastated and Troy proposed because he couldn't stand the thought of losing me. I accepted because I love him more than life itself."

"Well I don't understand loving anyone that much to give up a normal high school and college lifestyle but I can see that you do love him. Today is the first time I've seen you look truly happy" Alia admitted. "I would have liked to share a dorm with you next year but I hope we'll still be friends even if we're not in the same course or dorms."

"I hope so too" Gabriella said smiling.

"We'll have to make a regular time to catch up" Alia said practically.

"Yeah and some of the projects we're going to be assigned next week won't be due until next year so we'll have to keep in touch over the summer to work on them" Casey added.

"That will be useful. I've been to so many different schools and each time I moved everyone promised to keep in touch but it never lasted very long" Gabriella said quietly.

The others sat quietly knowing that no promises to make sure this time was different would mean anything to Gabriella.

"Is that why you moved in with Troy's parents instead of going to Mexico with your mother?" Sophia asked.

"I could never leave Troy for six months, it was hard enough to come here for the three weeks" Gabriella said laughing.

"It was certainly too hard for Troy" Casey said smirking.

"How far is it to Albuquerque?" Sophia asked.

"Just over 15 hours of actual driving time" Gabriella said smiling.

"Wow no wonder he was tired" Alia said.

"If he could look that hot when he's exhausted I bet he could have half the campus drooling on a good day" Sophia said teasingly.

"He certainly has the cheerleaders all following his every move at school" Gabriella admitted.

"Oh honey how can you put up with that?" Casey asked sympathetically.

"I try to ignore them. It's not Troy's fault, he never gives them any encouragement" Gabriella said sighing.

"You would have us believe that Troy is a perfect paragon of virtue" Alia said sarcastically.

"Troy is the perfect husband for me" Gabriella said firmly. "And he hasn't done anything that would make you doubt that."

"I have trouble believing that any teenage boy could genuinely be as mature sensible caring loving and romantic as you make Troy sound" Alia retorted.

"He drove all night to visit her. As far as romantic gestures go. That's huge" Sophia said.

"And Gabriella has been happier today than the rest of the week put together" Casey added. "I think you should shut up about Troy and give him a chance."

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you" Alia apologised.

"You're forgiven" Gabriella replied as the bell went and they hurried to class.

A/N: Thank you to Wildcats2016, Pumpkinking5, Broadwaybaby2010, Kiara, XxjoejonasfanxX, Anon, Guest and guest for your support.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy woke up about two o'clock. He stretched enjoying the smell of Gabriella's shampoo on the pillowcase. Just the thought that he was in Gabriella's bed and that she would be returning soon had his body throbbing with desire. He chose to ignore it and tried to go back to sleep feeling too lazy to get up and dressed.

His stomach growled and he sat up looking around the room preparing to go find something to eat, smiling when he saw the sandwiches Gabriella had made for him on the desk. Finishing the sandwiches and the bottle of water Gabriella had left for him he got up and explored a bit finding and using the bathroom. He took a quick shower to freshen up and still feeling tired returned to bed and was soon fast asleep again dreaming of Gabriella.

-o0o-

Sophia, Alia and Casey made the decision to head straight to the library after their last class and had told Gabriella in the five minute break they'd had between classes that they promised none of them would return to the dorm before six. "That should give you plenty of time to welcome Troy to Stanford and thank him for coming to visit you properly" Sophia teased.

"I'm sure Gabriella wouldn't behave inappropriately" Casey said surprised at Sophia's innuendo.

"They're married it would be inappropriate for them not to be having sex" Sophia retorted.

Gabriella laughed. "Thanks girls but Troy will be staying all weekend you don't have to make yourselves scarce. Sophia's right Casey, Troy and I will have sex we aren't doing anything wrong and I refuse to be ashamed of it."

"So you really don't care if we hear you?" Casey asked blushing.

Gabriella blushed "I care but after five days apart knowing you might hear probably isn't going to stop us tonight regardless of how we spend the afternoon. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. I'll tell Troy to try to be quiet" she offered.

-o0o-

The final bell of the day rang and Gabriella's friends gathered up her books as she rushed out of the class and hurried back to her room to find Troy still sleeping. She quickly rummaged through Troy's bag and pulled out the condoms and one of his shirts, stripped off her clothes and pulled it on before climbing into bed and wrapped her arms around him.

"Hey Baby" Troy mumbled sleepily.

"Hey. I didn't mean to wake you" Gabriella apologized.

"It's fine I've been asleep long enough. I'll be awake all night if I slept any longer" Troy reassured her.

"Did you have any lunch? Are you hungry? I could make you something"

"I ate the sandwich you left for me. Thanks" Troy answered, gesturing towards the empty plate beside the bed.

"Did you sleep well? I haven't been able to sleep in this bed though it seems comfortable enough"

"Better than I've been sleeping at home, the bed smells like your perfume so I've been dreaming of you" Troy said rolling over to pin her to the bed and kissing her deeply.

Gabriella responded enthusiastically running her hands across Troy's bare back tangling one in his hair to pull him down to continue the kiss and arching underneath him in desire.

Breaking the kiss only when he began to run out of air Troy breathlessly asked "Will your roommates hear us?"

"They've gone to the library for now but I wouldn't care if they did. I've missed you Troy. Make love to me." Gabriella panted as Troy attached his lips to her neck.

Troy rolled them over so Gabriella was on top then sliding his hands down he squeezed her bum gently before pulling his shirt off her body and breaking the kiss for the moment over her head. "I love it when you steal my shirts" he commented grinning.

"The one I brought with me doesn't smell like you anymore" Gabriella complained.

"I'll take it home then and you can keep one of the one's I brought with me instead" Troy offered.

"Shut up and kiss me" Gabriella demanded.

"Yes Ma'am" said Troy teasingly as he lowered his lips to hers.

Gabriella kissed back passionately, enjoying the feel of slow heat spiralling up inside her, enveloping her,

Troy deepened the kiss with a muffled groan, kissing her hard.

He wanted her … She could feel his desire in his kiss, and his desperation in the strength of his arms around her, in the way his hands clutched her to him how much effort she could see him putting into trying to control himself so he could keep things slow and gentle.

And then she stopped thinking entirely, in favour of all the sensations he was calling forth, the pleasure of wanting and being wanted…

Troy made quick work of stripping his boxers and Gabriella's underwear off and putting on the condom Gabriella handed him before lifting Gabriella and pulling her down to ride him. He sat up to reach her mouth and continued kissing her as he held her hips and helped her move slowly up and down on his erection. He wanted this feeling of being connected with Gabriella in the most intimate way to last forever.

Finally he could take the slow pace no longer and started to thrust up against her feeling himself reaching the entrance to her uterus as he pulled her down almost savagely. He would have been afraid of hurting her if it wasn't for her moaning in pleasure and begging him for more.

Troy moaned uncontrollably, his mouth open and his neck and back arching so far he swore he almost snapped his spine. He came hard, shouting Gabriella's name at the top of his lungs. His shout turned into a long moan, and his eyes even rolled back into his head. It was one of the most intense orgasms Troy had ever experienced. It started from what seemed to be the centre of his body and reached every nerve he possessed. He felt boneless and fell backwards onto the bed not noticing as he hit his head against the bed head he didn't even know how he was still breathing he come so hard it seemed he'd completely lost control of his body.

Troy's eyes fluttered open and closed a few times, his breathing very slowly returning to normal. Gabriella had flopped down to sprawl on top of him and he cuddled her gently. "It just gets better and better," he said with a happy sigh, his fringe splayed over his eyes.

Gabriella would have nodded, but that would have required that she move. She smiled dreamily at him husband. "Yes," she agreed quietly.

They lay there half dozing just loving the feeling of emotional connection between them in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

"We've been invited out for pizza with the others" said Gabriella casually after about an hour.

"The girls I met this morning?" Troy asked to clarify.

"And some of the other people in the freshman honours program" Gabriella responded.

Troy was a little surprised though quite willing to meet her friends if that's what she wanted. "Do you want to go?" Troy asked curious as to why she wanted to spend what little time they had to be together with other people.

"We have to eat anyway" she said avoiding his eyes.

"Gabriella?" Troy questioned, wanting to know what she was hiding.

"Please stay calm" she begged wrapping her arms around him holding him down.

"Gabriella what's wrong?" Troy started to panic surely she wasn't having second thoughts about their marriage.

"Calm down it's nothing serious" she reassured him. "There's a guy that's been hitting on me. I've told him I'm not interested but the git just keeps asking me out. He's been polite except for not believing that I mean it when I tell him I don't want to go out with him. I've tried to tell him a couple of times that I'm married but every time something has interrupted us or he just hasn't listened. All of us having dinner tonight was his idea and I think that he arranged it thinking that I would feel forced to come if everyone else was going" Gabriella explained.

"So you want us to go?" Troy asked confused as to why she was wanting to spend time with this jerk.

"I want him to meet you and see that I was telling the truth when I said I wasn't available" Gabriella explained.

"Okay how do you want to play this?" Troy asked with his best approximation of an evil grin.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked confused.

"You know him and the situation so it's your call. What sort of impression do you want to give him? Do you want me to threaten him and be super possessive all night, or to ignore him and just be all over each other the whole time?" Troy asked. "Do you want to just let him know you're not available or to pay him back for harassing you this week?"

Gabriella thought for a moment. "I kind of want some payback but I'd settle for knowing he's going to leave me alone" she said.

"So what should I do?" Troy asked.

"Don't threaten him, be friendly as if you don't know he's been hitting on me and if he tries anything just laugh as if you're amused by the idea as if it doesn't worry you at all" she replied. "And you know I'm not comfortable with too much PDA, but they'll have karaoke tonight so maybe we could sing together."

Troy's eyes lit up he loved singing with Gabriella and he gave a wicked grin "I think I know just what we should sing "

"It's a pity we can't sing 'You are the Music in Me'" Gabriella said. "What do you want to sing?"

"'I Just Can't Stop loving You' by Michael Jackson" Troy said smiling.

"Yeah that's a good choice, do we know it well enough though?" Gabriella asked frowning.

"I think so let's listen to it now and see" Troy suggested finding it on his ipod and connecting it to Gabriella's speakers.

"I'll Google the lyrics too" Gabriella offered. She pulled on Troy's shirt and leant over to start up her laptop giving Troy an excellent view of her bum.

Restraining himself from reaching out to fondle her arse Troy sat up and wrapped his arms around her pulling her down into his lap.

"Troy, stop distracting me" Gabriella protested half heartedly as they listened to the song with the lyrics on the screen.

"I think I know it well enough. Do you want to sing it through?"

"Okay" Gabriella said turning up the music.

It took a couple of run throughs to get the timing right but since this was a song Troy already knew well and Gabriella had an eidetic memory especially for sound they got it fairly quickly.

Gabriella kissed Troy as they finished. "It's the perfect song for us" she stated.

Troy deepened the kiss sucking her bottom lip into his mouth gently. "It is" he agreed huskily. Falling backwards onto the bed and pulling her down on top of him. His hands moved slowly up her thighs and sides of her body pushing Troy's shirt up to reveal her breasts. As soon as they were uncovered Troy sat up and took one nipple into his mouth playing with the other with his fingers.

Gabriella moaned and lifted the shirt the rest of the way over her head dropping it on the floor. She moved so that she was straddling Troy feeling his hardness brush against her clit. Rocking gently she brought herself to the brink of orgasm before Troy's hands tightened on her hips holding her still.

"I want to be inside you when you come" he said hopefully.

Gabriella reached for the condoms and tearing open the packet lifted herself off him so she could carefully roll it into place. Holding him in place she quickly sunk down onto him the sensation sending her immediately into orgasm.

Troy set an excruciatingly slow pace as she recovered and her second orgasm quickly built. Sensing she was close Troy began thrusting harder and faster emptying himself into her moaning her name as she came.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, XxjoejonasfanxX, Wildcats2016, Saphier and the three guests for your support.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Sophia, Alia and Casey deliberately made a lot of noise as they entered the dorm just after six. They'd given Gabriella the promised two hours of privacy and now wanted to make sure that they didn't overhear anything that Gabriella wasn't happy for them to hear. Even from such a short acquaintance they all realised that Gabriella was a very private person.

They heard the music playing, "I guess she doesn't want to be overheard" Casey said.

"Shall we get ready to go out? I don't think they'll be joining us for a while" Alia said hearing Troy's moan over the music.

The others agreed and quickly got changed Alia and Casey into slightly warmer clothes as it had become cool once the sun had set and Sophia into something with more cleavage to show off what she considered to be her best feature. They crowded into the bathroom all trying to fix their hair and makeup at the same time.

"This is never going to work" Alia said. "If we're going to room together next year we need to get mirrors for our rooms so we can at least do our hair in there."

"Yeah so you want to all room together?" Casey asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah I do" Sophia said. "It's a pity that Gabriella can't room with us too."

"Yeah it is but I've heard there are some three room dorms on the other side of the campus so we wouldn't need to find a new fourth" Alia said.

"We should go and apply for them soon before everyone else does" Casey suggested.

"Do you think we should let Gabriella know?" Sophia asked.

"Why are you asking?" Alia asked confused.

"Well I wouldn't want her to think we're making plans behind her back" Sophia said.

"Yeah but I wouldn't want her to feel left out either" Casey added.

"What about if we ask her tomorrow if she wants to change her mind and live with us next year? I bet she'll say no but at least she'd know she's welcome if things don't work out with Troy" Alia suggested.

Troy and Gabriella on the other side of the wall had heard the whole conversation and kept quiet so that the others wouldn't realise and feel awkward about it.

Once they left Troy said quietly "That's a great offer you've made some good friends here"

"Yes they're good friends and I hope we can stay close next year" she said slightly sadly knowing no matter how good their intentions that if the three of them lived together without her she would eventually become an outsider to their friendship.

Troy didn't say anything. He knew that they needed to talk about their living plans for next year before he met with the housing officer tomorrow but he wanted to put it off a little longer. He was afraid that Gabriella would decide that living off campus would be too difficult with her course load or that she'd be better off living close to her classmates.

"We should get up and get dressed if we're going to meet the others for dinner" Troy said.

"I need a shower" Gabriella agreed.

"You shower first" Troy offered knowing Gabriella would need more time to dress and do her makeup and hair. "I didn't bring much but do you want to pick my clothes?"

"I never pick your clothes Troy why do you want me to start?" Gabriella asked astonished.

"They're your friends Gabriella I don't know them. It doesn't matter to me what they think of me for my sake. So you choose what sort of impression you want me to make" Troy said.

Gabriella walked up and hugged him. "Troy I love you and I'm proud to be your wife. You don't need to be anything but yourself for my friends" she reassured him.

"So you're saying I can wear my Wildcats warm up suit and take my basketball to dinner" Troy asked jokingly.

"I said be yourself not pretend that you're Chad" Gabriella said laughing. "Troy you're the man I love and even Sophia and Casey admitted this morning that you're the hottest man they'd ever seen."

Troy blushed but still laid out all the clothes he'd brought for Gabriella to choose from.

Gabriella sighed at this uncharacteristic lack of confidence and chose a pair of jeans with white t shirt and a short sleeve blue button shirt to go on top. "Will you be warm enough in these?" she asked packing away his other clothes.

Troy nodded "Thanks Gabriella" he said. He put on the song again and read through the lyrics until he was sure he knew them perfectly while Gabriella showered, singing them through again in his turn in the shower.

Troy was still ready first and he sat watching Gabriella put on her make-up "We're going to be late" he commented calmly.

"Yes and I'll bet they'll all be able to guess why" Gabriella retorted blushing.

"Well they will if you go in there blushing like that" Troy said teasingly.

"Oh shut up" Gabriella said crossly.

Troy put his hand over his heart and fell back against the wall as if he'd been hit. "Ouch" he said sadly,

Gabriella turned and kissed his cheek before putting on her lipstick. "I'm ready to go" she said smiling.

Troy took her hand "You look beautiful" he said smiling.

"You look wonderful too" Gabriella said smiling. "Let's get going before I drag you back to bed" she teased.

Troy gave a wicked grin. "Lead the way" he said bowing.

As they walked towards the pizza restaurant Troy asked. "Gabriella, if I hadn't been here would you have come out tonight?"

"Probably not" Gabriella replied casually.

"Why not? Does this Stephan make you that uncomfortable?" Troy asked concerned.

Gabriella sighed. "He does make me uncomfortable but more than that I've been missing you terribly. When you couldn't talk to me last night I was relieved that I didn't have to tell you that I had too much work to do again. I did most of tonight's work ahead of schedule so that I could spend time with you" she explained.

"Gabriella I didn't want you to spend time with me instead of making new friends" Troy protested.

"I know. But I spent all day everyday with them, I really needed to spend some time with you" Gabriella said.

"And now you can do both" Troy said hugging her tightly. "I understand. I needed to spend time with you too."

"I love you Troy" she said kissing him quickly.

"I love you Mrs Bolton" Troy replied kissing her back.

-o0o-

Stephan who'd been watching the door was the first to notice the three girls arrival. "Hello ladies" Stephan greeted Sophia, Casey and Alia as they arrived at the pizza parlour "Isn't Gabriella coming" he asked annoyed that his planning hadn't borne fruit.

"She said they might" Casey replied casually finding a place to sit.

"Hi Alia Hi Casey. Hi Sophia" called the others as they joined the table.

"If I had that waiting for me in bed coming out for pizza would be the last thing on my mind" Sophia said quietly to Alia outside of Stephan's hearing.

"Hmm yeah" Alia agreed.

"If Gabriella said she'd come then I think she would unless something comes up to prevent her" Lindsay commented.

"She'll be 'coming' all right" laughed Sophia.

"Why didn't she walk over with you?" Stephan asked Casey not listening to the other's comments.

"She had something to pick up from her room" Casey replied making the Alia and Sophia laugh.

"You still should have waited for her it's almost dark she shouldn't be walking around alone." Stephan scolded her, only slightly worried about Gabriella's safety but knowing that she would have been more likely to come out if the other's were there encouraging and waiting for her.

"She' won't be alone she's with Troy, if they come at all" Casey replied before her attention was diverted by the argument the rest of the table was having over what pizzas to order.

"Who's Troy?" Stephan asked. But he didn't receive an answer.

Ben started asking "who's signing up for Karaoke?"

"I will if someone sings with me I don't think I could stand up there in front of everyone on my own" Casey said.

"The three of us should go together" Alia said indicating herself and Sophia. "Gabriella too if she's here"

"That's a great idea. What should we sing?" Sophia asked.

"It's raining men" Alia suggested smiling cheekily at Sophia.

Sophia laughed good naturedly. "My theme song" she agreed enthusiastically.

"Do you think Gabriella will sing with us?" Casey added.

"She doesn't seem to like attention" Sophia said.

"She doesn't like Stephan's attention" Alia corrected. "I think she'll sing with us unless Troy wants her to sing with him."

"You think he will?" Casey asked.

"Gabriella described him as wanting to major in theatre" Sophia said "So it's possible"

"And they were playing that Michael Jackson duet over and over while we were getting ready" Alia remembered laughing.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA and N. for your support.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

Troy held the door as he and Gabriella walked in to the pizzeria laughing slightly before eight o'clock.

"Wow look at that hottie" Dione said surprised that Sophia hadn't already started drooling. "I wonder who he is?"

Sophia looked up then smiled "Troy, Gabriella over here" she called out waving at him.

Troy and Gabriella looked over and smiled, walking towards them.

"You know him?" Dione asked not knowing whether to be pleased or disappointed. Sophia knowing the hottie meant that she would introduce him to her. On the other hand she knew she was completely outclassed looks wise by the beautiful blonde girl.

"Yeah we met him this morning, he came to visit Gabriella. Drove all the way from Albuquerque overnight too" Sophia replied impressed with the effort Troy had made to make Gabriella happy.

"He's a friend of Gabriella?" Dione said surprised.

Sophia leaned forwards and whispered "He's Gabriella's husband but don't tell Stephan, Gabriella's been really upset at the way he keeps hitting on her and I want to watch him make a fool of himself."

"Gabriella's married. OMG" Dione whispered shocked, luckily Stephan and the other boys didn't seem to have heard her.

There were only two seats left at opposite ends of the table, the smaller of them next to Stephan. Gabriella frowned, she suspected that this was intentional on Stephan's part to force her to sit next to him but wondered how he'd managed to arrange it. Troy noticed her reaction and taking his seat pulled her down to sit on his lap. Gabriella wrapped her left arm around his shoulder casually and turned to her friends. "Hi everyone, sorry we're late. Have you ordered?"

"Don't worry Gabriella we just ordered a heap of pizzas to share. There should be plenty for you we ordered extra." Alia answered.

"Introductions please" Dionne said leering at Troy.

"Okay. Troy these are my friends from the honours program. Everyone this is Troy" Gabriella said deliberately not mentioning his last name was the same as hers.

Sophia laughed. "Good job Gabriella" she said sarcastically. She turned to Troy and added "Well I'm Sophia, we met this morning, and you also met Casey and Alia" they waved and smiled at Troy as she pointed them out. "This is Dione and Bree and Bryant, Damon and Tim" she gestured to the people closest to Troy. "I'll let the other's introduce themselves later or you'll never get them all straight." She chose not to introduce the other end of the table wanting to drag out the situation with Stephan. Because they were so late conversations were halted by the arrival of the pizzas just after they sat down.

At the other end of the table Stephan was pleased to see Gabriella had finally arrived but irritated that she had brought a friend with her and that she hadn't even spoken to him yet. He had been so sure that he could get past Gabriella's defences and as she got to know him better she would be happy to go out with him. Now she appeared attached to this blond stranger, he would have to keep an eye on this and assess the seriousness of the competition. If this was just a boyfriend from home he could probably just bide his time and try again when they came back in September. Long distance high school relationships rarely lasted long once people got to college and made new friends. He would still be here next year to console Gabriella when she was missing whatever his name is. He attempted to keep track of the conversation at Gabriella's end of the table but the group was too large and the restaurant too noisy for him to hear.

Troy and Gabriella enjoyed their dinner with the freshman honours students. A lot of the conversation was about classes and class assignments but Gabriella explained as she went along and Troy was interested in the long term assignments that Gabriella would have to complete over the summer. Damon and Tim also made the effort to talk to Troy about Basketball. They'd both attended schools where the football team ruled the school and the Basketball team were pretty much overlooked and therefore the players were decent to the other minority groups like the science club.

They were impressed by the scholarship Troy described and horrified when he described his training schedule.

"No wonder jocks don't do well at school if they all spend that much time training" Damon exclaimed surprised.

"Yeah Dad says it'll be even worse in college" Troy agreed.

"How are you going to pass?" Alia asked shocked.

"I've applied to so a couple of subjects over the summer so I won't have a full load during the season. Hopefully that will be enough" Troy said.

"So you and Gabriella will be moving here early in the summer?" Bree asked enthusiastically.

"If one of us gets into a summer program we will" Troy said. "Do you live near here?"

"Yeah we live about 15 minutes from here by bus, my mom works in the administration building" Bree said.

"Have you applied for a summer program?" Gabriella asked the others.

"No I wanted to have one more summer at home" Bryant replied.

"No I want to get a job hopefully if I save up enough to pay part of the costs Mom and Dad will let me live on campus next year" Bree said. "But we could catch up over the summer."

The others all shook their heads as well. "Why would you want to do the summer program?" Damon asked Gabriella.

"Well Troy wants to so he can keep up with theatre commitments and Basketball next year so we'll be here anyway and if I do medicine I'm looking at eight years more schooling. Troy will only be at Berkeley for four. I don't want to tie him to this area longer than I have to. I've been doing college math, Italian and Spanish courses for the last couple of years. I only need to do three more subjects over the summer and then I can be a Sophomore next year" Gabriella explained.

"I guess having to balance your plans with Troy's plans makes things difficult" Casey said.

"But you don't have to make all the compromises?" Alia demanded.

"Of course not. Troy only applied to Berkeley because I wanted to come to Stanford" Gabriella said smiling.

"Where would you have preferred to go to college?" Sophia asked.

"My best friend and I planned to go to U of A. Dad played for them in college" Troy said smiling at Gabriella.

"So Berkeley is a better college than U of A?" Damon asked confused.

"Yeah Berkeley have a better team too. I never thought I'd get a full ride scholarship from them though."

"You got offers from a lot of places you didn't expect to" Gabriella said supportively.

Stephan came over and made conversation with their end of the table. Troy was amused to see Alia, Casey and Sophia automatically running interference for Gabriella preventing him from monopolising the conversation.

"Who's going to sing?" Stephan asked looking at Gabriella.

"We are" Sophia said. "Did you want to sing with us Gabriella?"

Gabriella smiled and shook her head.

"You should sing Gabriella I bet you have a beautiful voice" Stephan said smiling at her.

"We're going to sing Sophia's signature song" Alia said laughing.

Sophia and Casey laughed.

"Don't tell me we're the only ones that have signed up?" Casey asked looking around the table.

"Where do we sign up?" Gabriella asked.

"I'll show you where" Stephan offered.

"It's that table next to the Karaoke machine" Sophia said pointing, accidently on purpose knocking Stephan back a step away from Gabriella.

"The bathrooms down that way too, walk with us and you can sign up on the way" Alia said.

Gabriella nodded smiling and the four girls left the table. Stephan returned to his seat frowning deciding not to confront Gabriella's friend.

A short while after Gabriella had excused herself to the bathroom, the cell phone she'd left in the pocket of her jacket hanging on the back of the chair rang. Recognising the ringtone as Maria's Troy fished out the phone and answered it to the astonishment of the guys at the table.

"Hey Maria" Troy said smiling.

"Troy! I thought Gabriella would be at Stanford this week" Maria said disapprovingly.

"Yeah she is. I came up this morning to visit. I've got a couple of meetings at Berkeley tomorrow to sort out training and rehearsal schedules and a meeting at Haywood to finalise stuff on the flat they're offering us" Troy explained.

"Okay. Can I speak to my daughter?" Maria said slightly mollified.

"She's in the bathroom. She might be a while she went with her friends. You know girls and public rest rooms" He laughed.

"Is that a complaint Mr Bolton?" Gabriella said from behind him. "And just who is it you're talking to on my phone?"

"Talk to you soon Maria" Troy said into the phone before handing it to his wife with a grin.

"Hi mum" Gabriella said smiling at Troy.

"..."

"No I didn't know he was coming it was a lovely surprise" Gabriella flashed a smile at Troy before taking the phone and walking towards the window to improve the reception. "No I haven't missed class to be with him. You know Troy wouldn't want me to..." Gabriella said defensively.

"You answer your girlfriend's calls?" Damon asked astonished.

"Not normally, I knew from the ringtone that it was Maria and she has such trouble getting through that I knew Gabriella would want me to answer. Then at least there's a chance she could stay on the line long enough for Gabriella to get back to talk to her and if not I could pass on a message. If there weren't so many people here I would have taken the phone in to Gabriella" Troy explained casually.

"You would have barged in to the ladies rest room?" Alia asked amused.

"No probably just banged on the door and shouted through it" Troy replied.

"You're on very good terms with Gabriella's mother" Casey said smiling.

"Yeah we lived with her for a while last semester before she went to Mexico" Troy confirmed "Maria's great, but Gabriella gets on with my folks that well too. Mom rings her every couple of days and I know Dad rang the other day too. They see her as their daughter."

"I wish I got on with my girlfriend's mum like that she doesn't trust me much and it's a real pain" Damon complained.

"That's because she knows your intentions are far from honourable" Alia said waspishly.

"I think it's the same with all girlfriend's mothers, Maria and I didn't get along nearly so well before Gabriella and I got married" Troy reassured him.

"You and Gabriella are married?" Ben asked in shock.

"Yeah" said Troy defensively "I don't know why you're all so surprised."

"Well I noticed the rings but it never occurred to me that you could be married. You're too young. Why on earth would you get married?" Ben said unaware how rude he sounded.

"Because I love her and she loves me. We wanted to be married, so Gabriella could stay with me instead of moving away when her Mum got transferred."Troy didn't mention the marriage contract as he didn't want them to think that Gabriella hadn't freely chosen to marry him. The last thing they needed was for Stephan to get the idea that Gabriella needed rescuing from an arranged marriage.

"And your parents all went along with that?" Ben asked incredulously.

"By the time they found out they had no choice" Troy said dryly

"And yet you're on good terms now" Alia pointed out. "They couldn't have objected too violently."

"There were mitigating circumstances." Troy admitted. "Dad was the most upset but I made it clear to them that his only choices were to accept Gabriella or I'd move to Mexico with Gabriella and Maria."

"Stephan's going to feel like a real idiot when he finds out" Damon said smirking.

"That's his problem. Gabriella told him she wasn't interested. She never once encouraged him" Troy reminded them.

"So she told you about him?" Damon asked.

"She tells me everything, she complained he won't take no for an answer" Troy added. "If he won't back off when a girl makes it clear she's not interested then he deserves to be made look like an idiot."

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, Ceciliaa93, broadwaybaby2010, RYsaJaY, fanfREAK1, and CimorelliMIA for your support.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Stephan strode over to the Karaoke stage and after speaking to the operator took the microphone and addressed the audience. "I'd like to dedicate this song to someone who I've recently met and who I believe may be the special someone the song's about. To Gabriella and the beginning of a beautiful friendship"

Gabriella still sitting on Troy's lap turned and buried her head into his chest mumbling. "Oh God I can't believe he did that is he completely blind or just so self centred all he can see is his desires."

"Troy having heard what Gabriella was saying laughed out loud, surprising the rest of the table who had expected him to be angry about Stephan's continual and increasingly blatant flirting with Gabriella. He turned and whispered back to Gabriella and the two of them kept a constant quiet conversation rubbing her back while they ignored Stephan's fairly mediocre rendition of Michael Buble's 'I just haven't met you yet.'

Stephan was watching Gabriella throughout his performance and was upset that the two of them were ignoring him. His dedication had caught her attention but she seemed more distressed by it than flattered.

As he walked of the stage one of his new friends grabbed him and dragged him towards the door. "You need to lay off on Gabriella, Stephan. Let her go" Ben said quietly, hoping to avoid a scene.

"What! She secretly liked it, all girls like being serenaded" Stephan said confidently.

"She told you right from the first night we met her that she wasn't interested, that she was already seeing someone. You ignored her. If you keep this up it would almost be grounds for harassment" Ben argued.

"She'll come round you'll see" Stephan replied with bravado.

Ben shook his head in disbelief of his friend's arrogance. "She has shot you down every time you tried to flirt. She got upset about the song dedication. You didn't see her face. She wasn't secretly pleased she was seriously pissed off" he retorted.

"Only because her friend was there. She's worried he'll be jealous or something" Stephan argued.

"I don't think so. She wasn't worried she was angry, and he thought it was amusing. Troy's not jealous but if you keep upsetting Gabriella he will react" Ben said seriously.

"As if I'm scared of him" Stephan scoffed.

"He's a jock, I've heard Gabriella teasing him about his training schedule. A guy like that could take you apart without breaking a sweat" Bree said coming over and hearing Ben and Stephan's last remarks.

"Not without upsetting Gabriella" Stephan said with false bravado.

"That might be enough to stop him from putting you in the hospital but if I were you I wouldn't bet on it. And if you keep harassing her she may just become annoyed enough to encourage him to hurt you" Ben said as he walked away, he'd warned his friend and pointed out that Gabriella really wasn't interested. If Stephan was too thick to listen then he could sit back and enjoy the fireworks with a clear conscience.

"What are your plans for tomorrow Troy? Are you going to come to class with Gabriella?" Sophia asked teasingly.

"No" Troy laughed "I'd imagine Gabriella's classes are well out of my depth. I have an appointment with the housing officer to look over the flats available at Hayward at 11 o'clock and then a meeting with my coach at 3pm. I'll probably stay and attend training." Troy looked across at Gabriella and added "I'm not sure what time I'll be back."

"I'm free tomorrow from 10 til 1pm so I could come to see the flats with you." Gabriella said smiling.

"You seem very sure of yourself. Gabriella may have decided that she'd rather stay on campus. You're asking her to give up quite a lot" Damon commented.

"That's fine, if that is what she wants I'm sure she'd tell me." Troy said dismissively praying that she hadn't changed her mind about wanting to live off campus with him but not wanting to show weakness by discussing it in front of the others.

Gabriella laughed "Are you kidding! After these last few days Troy, if the flat in Hayward doesn't work out I'd agree to drive back and forth to Berkeley each day rather than stay here on my own" she said firmly expecting an argument. "No offence" she added to Alia, Sophia and Casey "I've had fun staying with you all but I miss Troy too much."

"None taken" they reassured her smiling.

Troy grinned, apparently Gabriella had missed him just as much as he had missed her.

"We could stay here at Stanford" He offered.

"Troy you're schedule's going to be insane. Between training and rehearsals you need to be as close to school as possible. It makes more sense to live on campus at Berkeley if we can't live at Haywood" Gabriella dismissed his offer, they'd had this conversation many times in the last few weeks.

Damon interrupted them arguing with Gabriella. "Seriously though, think about what you're giving up. College is our chance to be popular. Everyone who gets in to Stanford has to be smart and they will respect our achievements, we won't be the nerds anymore. By not living on campus you'll be missing all the extracurricular stuff."

Gabriella laughed "I'm with the most popular guy at East High. I get invited to all the parties. And I'm involved in more extracurricular activities than I can keep up with."

"Let me guess, scholastic decathlon, yearbook committee, science club, student council... I'm talking about cool extracurricular activities" Ben retorted.

Troy laughed and nodded at this "You're right Gabriella's in all of those of course but she's also lead in the school musical, student vice president, on the prom committee and she's in leading running for prom queen."

"I won't win Liana has it sewn up" Gabriella dismissed.

"No she doesn't, a lot of people didn't like the way she treated you earlier this year. A lot of people have come up to me this week and asked whether you'd be at prom before they cast their votes. Everyone at East High has missed you Gabriella" Troy said seriously.

"Okay folks that's all the soloists we had signed up for the evening. Let's open the floor for the duos, the first couple we have for you is Troy and Gabriella" said the karaoke announcer. They grinned at each other and walked up to the stage.

"Okay it's been a big night for cheesy dedications so who are you going to dedicate this song to?" the announcer asked loudly making the audience laugh.

Troy took the microphone "I'd like to dedicate my half of the song to the most beautiful perfect woman in the world" he gestured towards Gabriella "My wife!"

Gabriella blushed and kissed him quickly on the cheek before they started to sing.

The entire group was astonished when they heard the two singing in perfect harmony. They were not only clearly the best performers of the night they were completely in sync with each other. Every word every glance and every movement showed their connection. The entire restaurant fell silent to listen before erupting with cheers as the song ended.

Stephan's eyes were widened in shock 'His wife!? Gabriella was married! He'd been chasing after a married woman. Why hadn't she told him?' he asked himself. He quickly looked around the group to judge their reactions. Less than half of his friends were showing surprise. They'd known. They'd known and hadn't told him. Suddenly furious he turned and asked harshly "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I only found out an hour ago and I did try to warn you off. You refused to listen to me just like you refused to listen to Gabriella when she told you she was neither interested nor available. And you refused to listen to us. What difference does it make that they're married? Anyone can see they are madly in love and you chose to ignore it" Ben stated firmly.

"You let me make a fool of myself" Stephan said angrily.

"Yeah" said Alia "and I for one enjoyed watching you do it after the harassment you've put Gabriella through the last few weeks"

Sophie nodded "Yeah, you're one of the reasons she spends so much time in her room studying. She's been avoiding you so much that she's afraid to come out with us."

"I don't think she's been studying, she's spending most of her evenings on Skype. She's been miserable being away from Troy, and being isolated because she's trying to avoid being harassed by you has made it worse." Casey said to the now extremely embarrassed young man. "Today's been the first time she seemed happy."

"You claim to like Gabriella, but you didn't even get to know her, you didn't think about how your actions were affecting her. You don't like her it was just a hormonal reaction. Your behaviour towards Gabriella would never have got her to go out with you even if she hadn't been married. You were too selfish to see what you were doing to her" Alia added.

"She's wearing a wedding ring. How can you have spent so much time staring at her without noticing it?" Sophia asked rolling her eyes.

"Oh God Gabriella, that was amazing" Alia exclaimed as the couple came back to the table.

"Wow! I know you said Troy wants to major in theatre but you didn't tell us you could sing like that" Sophia said.

"Thanks girls. I love to sing with Troy. I'm glad you liked it" Gabriella replied modestly.

"I don't know how we're going to sing in front of you now" Casey said blushing at the thought.

Troy laughed "It's Karaoke, it's about having fun. You can't possibly the worst performers of the night."

"Yeah just get up there and have fun. Confidence is half the battle" Gabriella added smiling.

"You really love singing together" Bree commented.

"Yeah it reminds us of how we met" Troy said smiling.

"Ohh details please" Sophia begged.

"It was New Years Eve. We were at a ski resort in Colorado and they had karaoke at a party. They were dragging random people up to sing in pairs and they put us together" Gabriella explained.

"I'd never even thought about singing let alone performing in public but once Gabriella started to sing I was entranced. It was like the most wonderful feeling in the world singing with Gabriella" Troy said smiling dreamily.

The girls almost felt like laughing at his besotted expression except that his love for Gabriella seemed too special to make fun of. Each of them hoped desperately that one day they would also find a love like Troy and Gabriella had.

"Next up we have Alia, Casey and Sophia. Come on up here girls and show us what you can do" the karaoke operator announced.

The three girls paled but made their way up to the stage.

"Any special dedications?" he asked.

"To Troy and Gabriella may we all someday be so lucky" Sophia said cheekily.

Gabriella blushed but she and Troy lifted their glasses in salute.

The girls rendition of 'It's Raining Men' was more enthusiastic than practiced but they got over their nervousness fairly quickly and enjoyed the performance. Sophia hammed it up making the audience laugh. The rest of their freshman honours students applauded enthusiastically as they finished and returned to the table.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA, Cecilliaa93, broadwaybaby2010 and eael for your support.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy and Gabriella didn't stay long after singing. They walked back to Gabriella's temporary dorm in silence before Gabriella turned to Troy and asked "Do you think that was a bit mean?"

"Announcing our marriage like that in front of Stephan and everyone, you mean?" he thought for a moment. "Maybe but he was being a complete jerk. He could see we were together and he was still hitting on you and scheming ways to split us up. And it's not like you've been hiding it. You are wearing my ring and you did try to tell him right from the start. Don't beat yourself up about it Gabriella, he only got what he deserved."

Troy was silent for a bit then said contemplatively "It was interesting though being on the other side of the situation. After all the hassles you've had with my fan club I suppose I deserved to have someone else show an interest in you."

"It's helped me understand the way you reacted better too. I was always a little insecure about all the attention you received. I thought that even though you were in love with me and I knew you were trying to discourage the idiots that you must find it a little bit flattering too. But I wasn't flattered at all after the first time, he made me uncomfortable and I just wanted him to leave me alone so I could get to know the others and make some friends. I'm sorry I got cross with you last year over the cheerleaders" Gabriella said quietly.

"Gabriella you have nothing to be sorry for. You had every right to be annoyed when other people didn't respect our relationship" Troy said hugging her.

"But you handled it so much better than I did" Gabriella said embarrassed about that.

"It wasn't the same Gabi, you had to put up with the cheerleaders bullying you and flirting with me for months right at the beginning of our relationship. I only had to put up with Stephan tonight and our relationship is much closer now than it was then. I had no reason to doubt that you wanted him to stop harassing you and he wasn't attacking me at all. And I still would have punched his face in if you had given me the slightest encouragement" Troy said comfortingly.

Gabriella laughed "I'm glad you didn't punch him, his father's a criminal lawyer he'd probably have you arrested for assault."

Troy laughed too. "I liked the rest of your friends though. Alia Sophia and Casey were great the way they protected you" he said.

"Yeah they've been great friends" Gabriella agreed dismissively as they arrived home.

They entered Gabriella's room and she immediately began kissing him. "The others won't be home for a while" she said huskily.

"Did they offer to stay out to give us privacy again?" Troy asked. "I feel a little guilty kicking them out of their own room."

"We didn't ask them to do it" Gabriella reminded him.

"Yeah but I don't like thinking that we've made them feel uncomfortable. It's their dorm not mine" Troy replied.

"Yeah I'll talk to them tomorrow. But they'll be out tonight whether we take advantage of it or not" Gabriella said.

Troy grinned "Well we shouldn't waste their sacrifice should we?" he said cheekily stating to unbutton Gabriella's shirt.

Gabriella smiled running her hands over Troy's hard abs underneath his T-shirt. Troy shivered and shrugged off his shirt before pushing Gabriella's shirt off her shoulders trapping her arms. He lowered his head sucking her lace covered nipple into his mouth.

Gabriella moaned trying ineffectually to release her arms from the shirt without letting go of Troy. Troy's hands found their way to her ass squeezing gently as he pulled her towards him.

Gabriella finally freed her hands and started to unbuckle Troy's belt as his hands came up behind her to finally unfasten her bra so he could push it aside with his chin and suckle on her bare nipples.

Gabriella succeeded in undoing Troy's pants and she pushed them down around his ankles quickly followed by his boxers. She wrapped her hand around his erection eliciting a moan from Troy.

Troy overbalanced and fell backwards luckily landing on the bed with Gabriella still held tightly in his arms landing on top of him knocking the breath out of both of them.

Getting her breath back Gabriella rolled off Troy and began to giggle.

"I'm glad you think it's funny" Troy said wincing.

"Are you hurt?" Gabriella asked sobering.

"No not really. I'm very glad you let go as you fell though" Troy admitted kicking off his shoes and trousers before leaning over to kiss her. He ran kisses down her throat and cleavage to tongue her navel while unfastening and removing her jeans. Gabriella moaned as Troy suckled on her clitoris arching her back and tangling her fingers in Troy's hair to hold him in place. Gabriella came with a cry and Troy quickly moved up to kiss her.

Gabriella found the taste of herself in Troy's mouth to be surprisingly arousing. She reached for the condoms on the bedside table and pushed Troy over into his back so she could sit up and roll it into place. Lowering herself onto him she rocked her pelvis slowly.

Troy grasped hips and helped her move up and down as he thrust into her from underneath.

Gabriella was distracted by the sound of her friends returning. She crashed her mouth down on Troy's kissing him fiercely to muffle the sound of his moan of completion.

Troy rolled them both over and got up to take care of the mess before climbing back into bed and cuddling up close to Gabriella. The tiny bed was really too small for the two of them but neither had any complaints sleeping better than they had since Gabriella had left Albuquerque.

-o0o-

Troy woke early the next morning and let himself out to run. He ran the circuit around the edges of the college not wanting to risk getting lost and having to call Gabriella to come and rescue him. He finished by jogging up the four flights of stairs to Gabriella's dorm making several of the guys he'd met last night sigh in envy at how easy he made it look.

He arrived back just as Gabriella stepped out of the shower. "Hey Gorgeous" he said kissing her cheek.

Gabriella blushed and smiled returning the kiss. "Hurry and shower and I'll make you some breakfast" she offered.

Troy stepped out in to the kitchen freshly showered and neatly dressed just as Gabriella dished up the eggs.

"Mmm smells delicious" he said appreciatively wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck.

Gabriella put the plates down on the bench before turning in his arms and kissing him passionately.

"Get a room you two" said Alia laughing as she walked in to the kitchen.

Gabriella immediately drew back blushing fiercely which made Troy chuckle. "Morning" he said to Gabriella's roommates as they laughed at the blushing Gabriella.

"Eat your eggs before they get cold" she said to him pretending to be cross.

"Yes Dear" Troy grinned at her before taking his plate to the table and beginning to eat.

"I'll meet you at your truck just after ten" Gabriella said kissing him goodbye. "Can you keep yourself out of trouble until then?"

Troy stuck his tongue out at her in response to her question and Gabriella laughed.

Gabriella laughed and left for class with her dorm mates. Troy then quickly got up and collected Gabriella's dirty washing before going in search of the laundry. He then returned to the room and tidied up the kitchen before returning to dry the clothes. He rushed through ironing the things that needed ironing and hanging them in the closet and ran across the campus to meet Gabriella.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Ceciliaa93, Kiara, braingrade25, and CimorelliMIA for your support.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They were both excited as they drove up to the housing office at California State. The housing officer met them and handed over a set of keys and a map. "We've only one apartment empty at the moment but they are all quite similar. I will apologise now for the state it's in, the cleaning crew haven't been able to get to it yet. Feel free to have a good look around and then come back and we'll finalize the details."

They pulled up in front of a 1920's style apartment block in spite of needing a coat of paint the building was quite charming and the street seemed quiet with big old oak trees along the edge of the pavement.

Walking up to the door they unlocked it and let themselves into an empty foyer. The entrance was dim after the sunlight outside and wasn't staffed like Gabriella's current dorm and Troy frowned at the lack of security. He didn't like the idea of Gabriella being here alone while he was away travelling with the team.

There was no elevator so following the directions they'd been given they walked up to the second floor and let themselves in to the apartment. It seemed bigger than they had expected being only slightly smaller than the dorm Gabriella was currently sharing with three other girls at Stanford. The rooms were a dingy beige colour with worn carpets and the bathroom was antiquated and extremely dirty but there were large windows looking out over the street in the bedroom and living room. The main bedroom wasn't overly large but luckily Gabriella had a double bed that would fit nicely. There was a small second bedroom that Troy immediately declared Gabriella should have as a quiet place to study. The kitchen was both tiny and filthy but the appliances were all nearly new and the bench tops in good condition under the grime. Overall Troy and Gabriella were both pleased with the apartment and excited about the idea of setting up home there.

"It's a bit grubby and the colour's horrible, but we could paint it. I'm sure Mom could get us some paint" Troy said hoping that Gabriella liked the flat in spite of its grimy appearance.

"Yeah it could be really nice. Let's take some photos so that we can plan what we want to do with it. I think a nice warm colour would look well here" Gabriella said hesitantly. She wasn't terribly put off by the dirt, some of the houses she and her mom had moved in to over the years had required cleaning and painting before they could unpack.

"Yeah" Troy agreed taking out his phone and starting to take pictures of the place. The high ceilings gave the rooms the impression of being larger than they were but Gabriella knew they would also make them more difficult to heat. She walked over and inspected the heater using her phone to check the space it was recommended for. The bathroom was both antiquated and ugly as well as being filthy but the tap ran hot almost immediately and the water pressure wasn't bad. There was no plumbing connection for a washing machine but they'd been told there was a shared laundry in the basement.

They elected to walk back to the housing office to get a feel for the neighbourhood. The street was quiet with apartment buildings on their side and houses on the other. Some of the yards showed evidence of young families while others had old fashioned lace curtains suggesting an elderly couple or lady lived there. "I'm glad it doesn't seem to be all college students" commented Gabriella as they passed a noisy house clearly full of young men.

"Yeah it seems a nice neighbourhood" Troy agreed. "But I haven't seen a single basketball hoop."

"We could ask the housing officer, there must be some courts nearby. Though most of your training will need to be on the courts at Berkeley"

"I know. I just need to know that I can get out and shoot some hoops sometimes if I need to work of steam or stuff. It helps me think more clearly sometimes" Troy explained "I can't imagine living in a place where I couldn't play at all."

"Just like your father" teased Gabriella.

"I'm not that bad!" protested Troy tickling her.

"Alright, alright I admit it you're not as bad as Jack" shrieked Gabriella trying to avoid Troy's tickling hands.

They arrived at the housing office to sign the lease for the following year.

"Is that the actual apartment we'll be given?" asked Troy.

"Well, It can be if you want it to be. Don't worry about the dirt and mess, we have a cleaning crew coming in to give all of the flats a going over in June when the students move out" explained the housing officer

"I like it. Are the others exactly the same?"asked Gabriella.

"All the front apartments are the same as the one you went through. The rear apartments have a slightly bigger bathroom and second bedroom but the living room is a bit smaller. Most of the back units are leased to students with babies or children. That's why the noise regulations are so much stricter in that building than other student housing." Explained the housing officer. "I will warn you that you will be asked to leave if the other residents complain about the noise. And if you have parties I guarantee they will complain even if it's only on the weekends."

Troy and Gabriella nodded. Gabriella would appreciate the quiet to study and Troy was happy to have an excuse not to become the party house for his team. "That shouldn't be a problem, I'll party with the team on campus if I party at all" Troy assured her.

"Would we have to move out over the summer?" asked Troy "I mean we'd probably go home for a good bit of the holidays but could we leave our furniture and stuff in the flat or do we need to move it all out into storage each year? And we might try to get into some summer programs as well."

"So long as you have passed the housing inspection at the end of the year, have renewed your lease and want the same apartment the following year, then you can leave your things there. Though we won't clean through your flat if you do that."

"Is the rent the same over the summer?" Gabriella asked knowing that their scholarships would probably only pay the rent during the school term.

"No the rent over the summer is minimal because you actually save us the cleaning costs by staying. Now we also have some newer and furnished married dorms right on campus but as you don't both attend California State I don't think that I'd recommend them for you" she said as she showed them some photos of a 1990's style dorm building, and the inside of a modern looking apartment.

"I like the one we just saw better" Gabriella said to Troy. The new apartments looked slightly larger and much cleaner but they didn't have the charm of the smaller and older building.

"Yeah it has more personality. And it should be quieter being off campus too."

"And we'd be less conspicuous further away from the university I'm sure there will be some people unhappy with the idea of having us live here and not go to Cal State" Gabriella said.

"Gabriella don't worry about it, the rivalry between Cal State and Stanford is nonexistent, and what rivalry there is between Berkeley and Cal State isn't about Basketball because they don't play in the same division. You'll be safer living here than you would be on the Berkeley campus, or I would be at Stanford once people know where we go to school."

The housing officer interrupted them. "Okay the last question is how many stairs you want to climb? Because there's no elevator in the building there's a ten dollar a week discount on the top floor flats."

"Is there a difference with water pressure on the top floor?" Gabriella asked.

The housing officer looked surprised at the question. "No actually we've had to put in a separate water heater for the top floor because it was a problem originally but we haven't had any complaints about it since" she replied checking the building's records.

"What do you think Gabriella? It wouldn't worry me, it would be good exercise, but we don't know if the cost is really an issue." said Troy. "Berkeley will pay my half and we are still hoping that Stanford will pay the rest as part of our scholarships" he explained to the housing officer.

"Yeah it won't be a problem unless you were injured then we'd be in trouble, it'll be a pain to carry all our stuff up there when we move in though you'll be doing most of that. It would make doing laundry a pain too but you usually do that too. It's up to you Troy you'd be the one most disadvantaged by the stairs. The view would be better from further up and it would probably be quieter and more secure." Gabriella said to Troy.

That sold Troy. Gabriella was right, people would be much less likely to break in to a top floor flat because it would take so much longer to carry stuff down to the ground and they'd be more likely to be caught. Anything that made Gabriella feel safe while he was away on the road playing Basketball would be worth the inconvenience. "We'll take the top floor" he said turning to the housing officer with a smile.

"Would we be allowed to change the colour of the walls?" Gabriella asked.

"Yes but you may be asked to repaint them at the end of your lease if the inspector doesn't like the way it looks."

They signed the lease and quickly walked back to collect Troy's truck so he could drive back to Stanford in time for Gabriella's afternoon classes.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, Ceciliaa93, Missjustine19, malcolm. , gabrielajoy, CimorelliMIA and guest for your support.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of it's characters.

"I'm so excited I almost can't wait to move in" Gabriella said to Troy while texting the pictures of their future flat to her mother and Lucille. "I can picture us living here."

Troy grinned. "It'll be soon enough, we still have prom and Graduation and visiting Maria this summer. I can't wait for you to finish the freshman honours program though. I have really missed you."

"I've missed you too Troy. But this has been an amazing opportunity even though it's been hard being away from you. It has made me so grateful we found a way to be together even though we're not going to be at the same school" Gabriella said leaning over to kiss his cheek gently.

"I'm still going to miss seeing you between classes and having lunch with you though" Troy complained.

"We're going to miss all our friends but I'm sure you'll make new friends quickly within your team and your drama classes will be very interactive too so you'll meet a heap of people."

"Yeah I know it's not going to be the same as being with the same friends I've had since kindergarten though."

Gabriella laughed "I don't think you've any idea how lucky you are to have had friends like that. Most of the people I managed to befriend at various schools had also fairly recently moved or had had friends move away. Some had lost friends because they started high school and suddenly been labelled a geek while their friends managed to join one of the popular cliques and considered themselves too cool to hang out with brainiacs anymore."

"That's awful. I'm glad it never happened to our team" Troy replied.

"Did you have any friends in grade school that you stopped being friends with?" Gabriella asked curiously, she'd never heard any of the wildcats talking about past friends who'd left the school but surely there must have been some people move away or join other cliques.

"Not really, my closest friends have always been my team. I had a couple of friends at junior high that now live in different school districts so we don't hang out because we've become rivals. There's a guy who plays for the Knights that I use to be good friends with but he would've been kicked off their team if he got caught hanging around with us wildcats. We talked on the phone for a regularly for years though not so often these days. We use to look forward to going to U of A and being able to be friends again. But my best friends have always been Chad, Zeke and Jason."

"Like I said you don't know how rare that is. But you guys are close, you'll still be friends no matter where you all go to school" Gabriella encouraged him.

"But you don't keep up with any friends from your old schools." Troy protested pessimistically.

"Troy I never had friends like you guys. At best my friends were people to study with or to sit with at lunch. None of them were the type of friends that would invite me to their place or come round the house except for school projects. I never kept in contact with most of them when I moved away because I never was in contact with them outside of school. Chad's more than a friend he's your brother, nothing is ever going to change that. Brothers don't need to see each other every week to love each other."

Troy pulled out the sandwiches he'd made that morning and handed Gabriella hers to eat while they drove "I had hoped to have time to find a park near our new apartment to sit and eat but I don't want to risk making you late for class" he explained. "I didn't have time to make chocolate covered strawberries" he apologised.

"Peanut butter and jelly" Gabriella said with a smile "I've missed these."

"Why? You had all the stuff in your kitchen. You could have made them if you wanted them." Troy asked surprised.

"Troy I couldn't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on my own. They're our special thing" Gabriella said. In fact she'd never even considered making them herself.

"I love you" Troy said smiling gently at her.

"I love you too."

Gabriella hurried to meet her friends before class as Troy dropped her off and immediately headed back to Berkeley for meetings with the housing officer there and his coach.

"Hey there how'd apartment hunting go?" asked Casey.

"Great we signed the lease, our address next year will be ..." Gabriella said happily "Would you like to see the photos of it?"

"Yeah sure" said Alia leaning across to see Gabriella's phone.

"Is that the actual apartment you'll have or just one like it. It looks pretty grungy."

"We will actually have the apartment directly over this one but it's exactly the same layout, and of course the cleaning crew hasn't been through this one yet."

"Why'd you take so many photos?" asked Sophia.

"Troy's mum is in real estate, and she does a lot of consulting on renovating houses for sale, so I wanted to show her what it looks like and get some ideas for how to make it look like a real home. Mum's really good at setting up a new place too with all the times we've moved. The housing officer said that we can have the same apartment for the whole four years so long as we keep to the terms of the lease" Gabriella explained enthusiastically.

"Will Troy's mum be willing to help you?" Casey asked curiously.

"Yeah Lucille's great she's really made me feel welcome since I moved in with them" Gabriella replied wondering why her friends looked doubtful.

"Oh I forgot for a moment that you already lived with Troy" Alia said.

"What difference does that make?" Gabriella asked.

"Well I thought that your parents might both prefer that you lived on campus and just visited each other on weekends or something. But if you're already living together they can help without feeling that they're encouraging you to move in together" Alia explained.

Gabriella laughed.

On the way to Berkeley Troy thought over the conversation he and Gabriella had had about friends. Realising that he had missed talking to his friend Matt he called the number and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey this is Matt"

"Hey Matt it's Troy. Can you talk?" Troy was really asking if Matt was with his teammates who would strongly object to finding out that he and Troy were still in contact.

"Yeah Man. I'm at home. What's up we haven't talked in ages" Matt replied cheerfully.

"I was telling Gabriella about you and realised how long it's been. Not to sound girly or anything but I've miss talking to you. Life sort of went a bit crazy" Troy replied.

"Yeah I heard some insane rumour that you got married" Matt said laughing.

"Yeah. About four months ago" Troy confirmed.

"What! You're serious. You actually got married" Matt exclaimed shocked. He'd been sure the guy who'd told him had just been trying to wind him up.

"Yeah you remember me telling you about Gabriella?" Troy asked.

"Uh huh"

"Well her father had set up a marriage contract with a friend of his and the only way we could find to get out of it was to get married ourselves. But I love her man. It was the best thing I ever did" Troy declared.

"Wow man. I'm happy for you" Matt said supportively.

"Thanks man. There's another reason I rang though. There's something I need to tell you that I didn't want you to hear from someone else" Troy said seriously.

"What is it T?" Matt asked curiously.

"I've accepted a scholarship to UC Berkeley. I won't be going to U of A" Troy said quietly, hoping his friend wasn't too disappointed.

"That must piss your old man off" Matt said amused.

Troy laughed "Yeah he's slowly coming to terms with it. It helps that Berkeley have a Division 1 team."

"Yeah but he's been talking about when you're a Redhawk forever. I wouldn't be counting on him giving up on that anytime soon" Matt reminded him.

"You'd be surprised, he's been great about me marrying Gabriella. They're really tight. Almost like father and daughter. Dad understands that I'll never choose Basketball over Gabriella and he's fine with that" Troy explained.

"That doesn't sound like Coach." Matt said amazed.

"Yeah well maybe he's mellowing with age" Troy suggested.

Matt laughed. "I wouldn't let coach hear you say that."

"No kidding, I looked over my shoulder as I said it and he's not even in the same state" Troy laughed too.

Matt laughed again. "It's been great catching up Troy. And thanks for letting me know you won't be at U of A."

"Chad'll still plans to go there though. So maybe the two of you could become friends again."

"I do have some friends among the Knights that are planning to go to U of A you know." Matt sounded amused.

Troy grinned "Yeah I know it's just that we had all these plans you know. And I kinda feel that I'm letting you and Chad down..."

Matt was disappointed that he wouldn't be reunited with his friend at college like they'd planned but he'd realised when he heard about the marriage that Troy would put his wife's interests ahead of old friends' and tried not to make Troy feel guilty about changing their plans. "It's okay Troy. I understand that you need to go to the same school as your wife. I'm sure Chad understands as well."

"Yeah Chad's been really good about it. Gabriella's been dreaming of going to Stanford all her life. I couldn't ask her to give that up to go to U of A" Troy said.

"I really must meet this woman who has Troy Bolton wrapped around her little finger like this. She must really be something" Matt said smiling.

"Yeah she is. I could spend all day telling you how wonderful she is. But I'd like to get together and hang out one day" Troy replied.

"I'll call Chad and try set up a time" said Matt intending to grill Chad about this change in his friend.

After Troy hung up Matt immediately called Chad.

"Hey Chad, it's Matt can you talk" he asked. Though he knew that the Wildcats were a lot more accepting of their friendship than Matt's team were, the three of them still made an effort to keep it private to avoid any possible confrontations from the more junior members of the team who only knew Matt as being from the Knights.

"Give me a minute" Chad said and hung up. Five minutes later he rang Matt back.

"Okay I've got about five minutes before training starts" he told Matt, "if you need more than that I should be free after five."

"I think it will take more than five minutes. I've just talked to Troy and he wants to set up a time to catch up when he gets back from wherever he is" Matt replied.

"Okay but that wouldn't have you calling me at this time of day. What's wrong? Does Troy need me to call him?" Chad asked anxiously.

"Relax man, he sounded fine. He rang to tell me that he wouldn't be going to U of A next year" Matt said reassuringly.

"He told you about Gabriella? About getting married?" Chad guessed "And you're worried that he's gone completely crazy?"

"Yeah! Something like that" Matt agreed laughing.

Chad laughed too. "I don't know if I can help you understand. You'd have to see them together to truly get it. But you don't need to worry about Troy. Gabriella's a great girl and she's just as crazy in love with him as he is with her. He's happy, happier than he's ever been. I know it sounds mad but somehow it was the right thing for them."

"But married? Why on earth?" Matt exclaimed.

"That's Troy's story to tell, man. Look the best thing would be for you to meet Gabriella, and then you'll see what I'm talking about. She gets back from Stanford in about a fortnight so I can either set up a time to catch up with Troy before then or with both of them after that."

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Kiara, CimorelliMIA, Missjustine19, Horseygal0923 and sawyer105 for your support.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Matt rang the bell and waited impatiently for Chad to answer. He had regretted losing contact with Troy and Chad for some time now and Troy's phone call and announcement that he'd got married had really thrown him. His call to Chad earlier had helped settle his concerns at the time but once he'd had time to think he'd started to worry again.

He hoped he could get a clearer picture of what was going on by talking to Chad face to face because he was seriously worried about Troy and he didn't understand how Chad and the Bolton's didn't share his concerns.

"Hey Dude! How've you been" Chad said smiling as he opened the door and let him in.

"Hey Chad" Matt said smiling genuinely at his friend in spite of his worries.

"Pity Troy's not home we could go and play some Basketball. See how rusty your skills have got" Chad teased.

"You only played us a couple of months ago. I'll admit I'm not in Troy's league but I'm still a match for you" Matt fired back.

"Yeah Troy's something else these days" Chad agreed. "I don't know how many scholarship offers he got in the end but he's getting a full ride from Berkeley, married accommodation, travel expenses and everything. It was a hell of an offer."

"But he said his wife's going to Stanford. How's that going to work?"

"She got a full scholarship too. She's scary smart though you wouldn't know it to talk to her. They've got a flat half way between which is good because Troy says the rivalry between Stanford and Berkeley is huge."

"So does she nag Troy to study more?" Matt asked laughing.

"You know I've never heard her nag Troy at all. But he does study a lot more he's pulling a high B average these days. Something I never hear the end of from Taylor when she nags me to study" Chad complained.

"So what's she really like?" Matt asked fishing for answers. "You say she's changed Troy without nagging him. Is she controlling him?"

"Gabs is great. She gets along with everyone and supports Troy to make his own decisions. Troy is so totally whipped you wouldn't believe it even when you see it but he's also happier than I've ever seen him" Chad said smiling. "They tried out for the musical together last year and Troy spent hours with her rehearsing. Now he wants to major in theatre if you can believe it."

"Troy was never interested in Musicals and theatre!" Matt said shocked.

"Or he never was encouraged to try anything except sports to see what other talents and interests he might have" Chad retorted. "We always used to think it must be so fantastic living with Coach Bolton and getting that much extra training and support to play. We never saw the pressure he put on Troy" he said sadly.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked confused.

"Every time we'd go over to play at Troy's his Dad would come out and play Basketball with us if he was home. We used to think it was great and coach would give us tips on how to play better and we'd pretend like we were on a team and practice drills and stuff" Chad began.

"Yeah it was great" Matt interrupted smiling. He remembered being jealous that Troy's father spent that much time with him.

"Do you remember ever doing anything else at Troy's unless his Dad was out?" Chad asked.

Matt thought for a moment "No we always wanted to play basketball with Jack" he said "So?"

"So. Some days it'd be you and me, or you and Zeke or Jason, or me and Zeke or Jason. But it was always the same. We'd play basketball. If we were inside doing something else and Jack came home he'd encourage us to go out and play with him."

"Yeah! So what? Troy loved it?" Matt said dismissively.

"Did he always? Think about it carefully. Did he ever protest?" Chad asked.

Matt thought carefully "Sometimes but only for a minute or so then he'd give in. He loved basketball"

"He only protested while his Dad couldn't hear him? Then if we wanted to play he would?" Chad suggested.

"Yeah but most of the time he wanted to play, he was eager to go out and show us some new move he'd been working on with his Dad" Matt argued.

"Yeah and don't you think that's odd too?" Chad asked seriously. "Jack and Troy played with us for hours nearly every day but Troy still had time to learn new skills when we weren't there."

"Huh" Matt asked not having thought of it like that before and still not seeing what Chad was trying to tell him.

"How many hours a day do you train this year?" Chad asked.

Matt thought for a moment calculating. "During the season maybe three or four hours a week, not counting pick up games."

"Troy trained three or four hours a day before and during the season and still trains at least two hours a day now"

"Wow no wonder he's so good" Matt said whistling.

"How many basketball practices have you missed?" Chad asked.

"I dunno a fair few Coach knows not everyone can come every time that's why there's practice every day as long as you go to at least three he's happy" Matt replied.

"Coach Bolton holds at least two practices everyday and Troy is expected to go to every single one of them. Not counting when he was on medical restrictions he's only missed four that I know of in three years and even then he had to make up every minute of those four practices when he got home" Chad said.

"What are you trying to say Chad?" Matt said frowning not liking the suggestion that Troy didn't work that hard because he wanted to.

"You said Troy wasn't interested in theatre when you went to school with him. How did you know?" Chad asked approaching the subject from a different angle. He knew that Matt had to reach his own conclusions about this he wouldn't accept Chad's word for it.

"If he was interested he would have joined the drama club" Matt said looking at Chad like it was too obvious.

"How could he? They met after school" Chad stated. "Troy was at basketball training with us, home playing basketball with his father or at East High watching his father run varsity training every afternoon"

"So you're saying he couldn't have joined if he wanted to?" Matt asked surprised.

"Yeah Jack's much better now but he had an absolute fit over Troy trying out for the musical. He blamed Gabriella at first and was really rude to her. Troy was very upset with him."

"I can't believe we didn't see it" Matt said shocked.

"If it makes you feel better about this, I don't think Troy desperately wanted to join the drama club or anything else when we were at school together but he never even had time to think about wanting to do anything but Basketball."

Matt said silently not knowing if he wanted to hear any more but still unsure how everyone could be so accepting of Troy deciding to get married before he finished high school.

"Troy hasn't changed that much" Chad tried to reassure Matt. "I was like you at first I didn't like this new girl coming and taking away my best friend but really the biggest change she made was to give Troy a reason to start standing up for what he wanted. Troy started making his own choices. He made friends with a lot of students we'd never have even talked to before and he was right. I have a lot of really good friends now who don't play Basketball and I'm enjoying school a lot more now."

"Okay I see your point Troy's father was controlling his life but how do you know he hasn't just exchanged one controller for another?"

Chad looked at his friend for a moment as if he'd gone mad then reminded himself that Matt had never met Gabriella.

"I'll show you the difference" he offered grabbing his laptop. He didn't really talk about it but he loved having photos of his friends even though he hadn't taken most of them. He pulled up the photos his mom had taken at Troy's seventeenth birthday the year before and looked through them. "This was a couple of months before he met Gabriella" he told his friend showing him the photo. Troy was smiling at the camera but you could see the tension in his face and shoulders and the smiles didn't quite reach his eyes.

Matt looked at the photos for a few moments before Chad pulled back the computer and opened up a different file. "And this is his birthday this year" he said showing Matt the new photos. In this second set of photos Troy mostly had his arm around a beautiful dark haired girl and his smile lit up his whole face. He looked relaxed and confident and very much in love.

"He really does look happier" Matt admitted. "But this was before they got married have you got photo's of the wedding?"

"Umm yeah" Chad opened a different file. "Jason took these afterwards" he said. "Troy and Gabriella have some more official looking photos of the ceremony itself."

Matt had to smile as he saw how happy Troy and Gabriella looked on their wedding day. "Oh my God he almost looks like he's glowing" he joked.

"Yeah you can see that Gabriella makes him happier than he's ever been before. Give her a chance man" Chad encouraged.

"You really like this girl?" Matt asked.

"I love Gabs like a sister, man. She gets along with everyone except the cheerleaders. Even Jack loves her" Chad said smiling. "Wait til she gets back in a couple of weeks and well set up a meeting."

"So you're saying I shouldn't try to meet up with Troy before she gets back?" Matt asked.

Chad shrugged "Troy really loves her. He won't respond well to you questioning his relationship. Besides he'll be busy with rehearsals. The musicale is the weekend after next and he nearly had to trade his soul to Darbus for the time off to go and see Gabriella" he said laughing.

"I should come and see this performance" Matt said laughing.

"I can get you a ticket if you want" Chad agreed.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, broadwaybaby2010, CimorelliMIA and Ceciliaa93 for your support.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella and her roommates arrived back to their dorm and looked around in shock. The dirty dishes had disappeared and the kitchen was clean. "Who stole our dishes? Sophia asked in shock.

Gabriella had a suspicion and walked over and opened the cupboards, "They're not stolen, just washed and put away" she said dryly.

"But who would break in and clean up? It makes no sense" Alia asked bemused.

"No-one broke in, we left Troy here when we went to class this morning" Gabriella replied, laughing at her friends' confusion.

"Troy did this?" Casey asked in shock.

"Girl you gotta tell me where I can find me a man like that" demanded Alia.

"You got lucky, his mama trained him well" said Sophia.

"Don't tell me he's a neat freak?" Casey said concerned, "because that will be really hard to live with Gab."

Gabriella smiled "He's not a neat freak, if anything he's normally the messy one. He would have cleaned up to do me a favour, probably as a way of making up for taking up so much of my study time" she explained walking into her room to grab her laundry.

She walked back out looking surprised.

"Gabriella what's wrong?" asked Alia.

"Come on girls, let's grab our stuff and get down there to grab the machines before anyone else does" Sophia tried to hurry them along.

"Uh... I don't need to do laundry?" said Gabriella uncertainly.

"Gab? You were the one complaining yesterday morning that you had nothing clean to wear?" Casey questioned.

"Don't tell me he did your laundry too?" Sophia said surprised.

"Yeah" Gabriella confirmed smiling "all washed folded and put away."

"Doesn't that make you a little uncomfortable, knowing that he handled all your dirty panties and stuff?" Alia asked giggling.

Gabriella shrugged "I hadn't thought about that. Troy often does our laundry at home. And better him that my mother-in-law don't you think?" she said lightly.

Sophia snickered "Yeah I see your point that would be much worse."

"Why were you surprised he did your laundry after he cleaned the kitchen if he does it at home?" asked Casey curiously.

Gabriella shrugged again, "I just didn't think he would have had time to do both, and my laundry was in the bottom of the closet he would have had to go looking for it to realise it needed doing."

"So you're okay with the fact he went poking through your closet?" Sophia stated bluntly "I would kill any boyfriend who I caught doing that."

"Troy's not my boyfriend he's my husband" Gabriella reminded them "at home we share a closet. He wouldn't have seen it as snooping around, he probably just opened the cupboard to put something away when he was tidying up. Besides there wasn't anything hidden in there that Troy shouldn't see."

"And where would you hide the things Troy shouldn't see?" Casey asked jokingly, expecting Gabriella to refuse to tell her.

"I don't have anything that I wouldn't want Troy to see." Gabriella said dismissively.

"What about your diary?" Alia asked

"Or Christmas presents and stuff?" Sophia added.

"I don't keep a diary but if I did I wouldn't need to hide it from Troy. And I hid his presents in mum's cupboard and suitcase last year."

"What you're saying Troy's so 'honourable' that he wouldn't read your diary?" Casey asked using air quotes for the word 'honourable'.

"Yeah I am, besides there wouldn't be anything I could write in a diary that Troy didn't already know" Gabriella said irritated by her friends scepticism.

Ending the conversation Gabriella walked in to the kitchen and started going through the cupboards. "What are you doing?" asked Alia.

"Checking to see if we have the ingredients that I need to cook Troy's favourite dinner" Gabriella said absently her mind busy running through the recipe.

"Oh you're cooking and I won't be here for dinner, that's so not fair" complained Casey.

Troy let himself in to the dorm building where Gabriella was staying and trudged up the stairs without his usual energy. He'd enjoyed meeting his new coaches and practicing with the team but they'd really put him through his paces. His father had warned him that college Basketball would be a lot more demanding than High School but considering his father already pushed him more than twice as hard as any other player on the team he had thought he was in pretty good shape for it. He was hoping that the coaches were just pushing him today to see what he could do and that practice wouldn't always be that intense. He was really beat. He knocked on the door and waited tiredly hoping that Gabriella would agree to an early night.

Gabriella opened the door and seeing how exhausted her husband looked gently hugged him and pulled him in to the room to sit at the table. "Dinner's ready" she said taking the plates out of the oven. "Careful the plate is hot."

Troy looked down to see his favourite meal (well favourite of the meals that were easy enough for either of them to cook) and smiled as he started eating. He thought it was amusing that he'd mostly learned to prepare Gabriella's favourite foods and she'd mostly learned to cook the meals that he preferred.

"This is really good Gabi" he said appreciatively.

Gabriella blushed and smiled "Well after finding that someone had cleaned the flat and done all my laundry it's the least I could do."

"You didn't need to make dinner because of that. I just wanted to make your life a bit easier. I know me being here has prevented you from studying as much as you would normally and I wanted to make sure my coming didn't harm your grades or anything."

"I know Troy and that's really sweet, but you know me better than that. If I'd actually needed to study or finish an assignment then I would have told you. I wouldn't let your visit make me put off my work. I'm ahead on my reading and my assignments; I can afford to take some time off to be with you" she reassured him.

"I'm not going to be very good company tonight" he warned her.

"You're half asleep in your dinner" she said with amusement. "Finish up then I'll come tuck you in and massage out the worst of the aches and pains."

"I love you" Troy said sleepily continuing to eat the rest of his dinner.

Gabriella cleared the table then seeing Troy still sitting there dozing off with his dinner still only half eaten, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up, wrapping her arms around him and steering him into the bedroom.

"Do you want to shower?" she asked.

"Only if you want to join me" Troy replied smiling sleepily.

"Troy!" she exclaimed loudly waking him up fully.

Troy woke up fully and thought about what she'd asked him. "I showered after practice so I'm clean. The hot water on my muscles would feel good but the way I feel I'd probably fall asleep and drown if I was in their on my own" he said tiredly.

"Mm hmm" Gabriella agreed.

He stood without reacting as she stared to undress him. "Which muscles hurt the most?" She asked sympathetically.

Troy took stock for a minute "My shoulders, and calves" he admitted unwittingly telling Gabriella how exhausted and sore he really felt by not pretending his bum or penis needed a massage.

Gabriella efficiently stripped him to his boxers and turned down the bed before gently pushing him onto lie on his stomach. She rummaged around in his bag for a moment. "Do you want Voltaren Gel, Dencorub or massage oil? She asked having found the tubes she was talking about.

"Voltaren on my shoulders and dencorub on my calves" he answered knowing that Gabriella hated the smell of the dencorub and that regular massage oil wasn't going to be enough tonight.

Gabriella grinned as Troy groaned when Gabriella expertly massaged his shoulders. She had had a lot of experience with this since she started dating Troy. He would visit late at night stressed out from the pressure his father and the team placed on him and she had offered to massage his shoulders one night in the hope of getting him to relax. She had been shocked at how tight his muscles were, and how hard he worked himself even just in training. Since then massaging sore muscles had become almost part of their daily routine.

After silently working all of the knots out of his shoulders and calves Gabriella noticed that Troy had fallen asleep. She covered him with the quilt and kissed his temple before gathering her books and both of their phones so they wouldn't wake him and returning to the living room to study.

"Are you studying Gabriella? Did you and Troy have an argument?" asked Sophia concerned.

"No he's asleep. Apparently 'training with the team' really meant be pushed to his limits to see how he responds to pressure" Gabriella said smiling wryly and shaking her head. "He's completely wiped out."

"Obviously he's not as fit as he looks" commented Alia snidely.

Gabriella laughed, "Troy runs at least six miles every morning and usually spends about an hour in the gym and two hours a day at formal basketball training and still has the energy to also play for fun most days as well. He's the fittest person I know. I hate to think how hard they must have worked him to result in this level of exhaustion. He wasn't this bad after the marathon a couple of months ago" she said shaking her head.

"So much for having your boyfriend here, it's Friday night and you're still sitting alone studying" Sophia teased.

"If I get my work done now while he sleeps then I can spend the rest of the weekend with Troy without feeling guilty about not studying" Gabriella replied cheerfully "I will laugh at you Sunday night when you're desperately trying to finish the assignments" she teased back.

"That response might work if you were doing this weekend's homework" Sophia retorted "but I know you better than that, you're probably at least a week ahead. Come out with us Gab. You can leave Troy a note with directions in case he wakes up."

"No thanks Soph. Troy rarely sleeps more than five hours at a time and I'd rather be here if he wakes up."

"Five hours a night? That's ridiculous. Why?" Sophia asked surprised.

"Before we were married Troy used to nap until his parents were asleep and then run over 3 miles to visit me. Then in the morning he had to wake up early enough to run home and sneak in and clean up the sweat before his Dad woke him up at five thirty to run with him and train before school. Troy just got used to sleeping in short shifts. So when he's really tired like tonight then he'll sleep for a few hours then get up and do his homework. He'll probably be awake by about ten thirty." Gabriella smiled at the memories as she explained, she'd taken it for granted at the time but looking back she saw that Troy had pushed himself to the limit in order to always be there when she needed him.

A/N: Thank you to Punpkinking5, Kiara, Chlollie4eva, Ceciliaa93, CimorelliMIA and Wildcats2016 for your support.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella was correct about Troy's sleeping habits, at twenty past ten Troy came stumbling out of the bedroom just as Gabriella had finished her assignments and reading for the week and was putting a movie into the DVD player.

"Hey Baby are you feeling better?" she asked smiling at him.

"Yeah" Troy replied stretching "Where is everyone?"

"It's Friday night Troy, Casey's gone home for the weekend. Sophia and Alia are out with the others, I think they were talking about going to a bowling arcade." Gabriella deliberately kept her answer vague not wanting Troy to think that she regretted not being able to go with the others or wanted them to meet up with them for the rest of the evening. She was only partially successful Troy looked like he was feeling guilty about keeping her home studying alone on a Friday night.

"Did you want to go out, maybe we could give Sophia a call and work out a place to meet them?" Troy asked."

"No Troy, we went out with them all last night, I want to spend some time just the two of us tonight" she replied smiling. "It's just as well they're all out if you're going to walk around dressed like that" she teased her eyes clearly admiring Troy's boxer clad body.

Troy blushed and smiled "Do you want to go out somewhere?" he asked.

"I don't want to be around a crowd of other people but I wouldn't mind going for a walk, but do you want something to eat?" she replied knowing that Troy's calves would recover better if he got some gentle exercise now before pushing himself again.

Troy smirked knowing the motives behind Gabriella's suggestions and happy to go along with it. "Give me a minute" he said returning to the bedroom to finish getting dressed.

"Do you want me to heat up the rest of the leftovers now or when we get back?" Gabriella called out to him letting him know that not eating was not an option Troy would need the extra protein to heal his overworked muscles. She had learned a lot about muscle strength and recovery since starting to date Troy.

They walked around the quiet campus avoiding the bars and theatres and other places that would be highly populated just enjoying this time on their own with no roles to play or schedule to keep.

"I've really missed this Gabi" Troy said softly wrapping his good arm around her shoulders.

"I've missed you too Troy" she replied hugging him gently.

"East High's not the same without you" he said.

"Are you coping with all your schoolwork?" she asked knowing that while he normally did not need to be prompted to study while she was around he could easily have fallen into bad habits without her. Especially with the Basketball team all on a mission to keep him from missing her and feeling too lonely.

"Yeah well I suddenly have all this extra time of an evening" he teased, reassuring her "Mum wouldn't have let me come if I wasn't up to date with all my classes."

Gabriella nodded agreeing with Lucille, and not wanting Troy to think she was nagging changed the subject.

"How are rehearsals for the musical going?" she asked a little surprised that he hadn't already told her all about them.

Troy groaned "Horrible, I wish you were there to do the musical. Sharing the lead with Sharpay is a nightmare. She's even worse that she was last year" Troy complained. "She keeps trying to change the songs and the dance moves and all her lines and she argues constantly with Kelsi and Ryan she wants them to increase her part and make sure she's centre stage for the whole time" he explained.

"How are Ryan and Kelsi coping with that? Surely you're not letting her get away with treating your 'little sister' like that." It wasn't a question Gabriella knew that Troy would do anything to protect Kelsi from Sharpay's bitchiness.

"Kelsi's doing okay. She stands up for herself against Sharpay now" Troy said, clearly proud of his friend.

Gabriella smiled and raised her eyebrow questioningly, waiting for him to continue.

"And I refused to sing the songs with Sharpay at all unless she sang them the way Kelsi had written them" Troy admitted. "Her new song for the ending is amazing. Luckily Ryan agrees with me and Kelsi, the songs are perfect the way they are making them faster would ruin them. So he's choreographed dance moves that don't work the way Sharpay wants to sing the songs." Troy smiled as he talked about his honorary sister, the one person that had wholeheartedly supported their relationship and their marriage right from the start.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Gabriella winced at the thought of the tantrum Sharpay must have thrown at that.

"Sharpay tried to tell Darbus that I was being obstructive and get her to make Ryan swap parts with me" Troy said.

"What did Darbus say to that?" Gabriella asked surprised at the amusement she heard in Troy's voice. She would have thought he'd be annoyed at Sharpay's continued attempts to manipulate him.

Troy smirked "Darbus didn't get the chance to say anything. Ryan was there when Sharpay said it and he completely refused to play a romantic role paired with his sister. He even suggested to Darbus that his voice would actually be a better match for Sharpay's part than mine and that there wasn't enough time for Kelsi to transpose all the songs so if he was going to replace one of us with him then he should replace Sharpay instead of me" Troy laughed at the memory. "Of course Darbus refused to even consider it and the whole subject was dropped."

Gabriella giggled and looked at Troy curiously "Would you have agreed to play a romantic role opposite Ryan if Darbus had agreed? What about the kissing scene?" She asked blushing slightly. While she didn't want to watch her husband kissing anyone else she found the idea of two guys kissing hot and Troy's extreme confidence on stage was always a real turn on for her.

Thankfully Troy either didn't notice her blush in the dark or didn't feel it worth mentioning. He shrugged "I don't see why not, so long as you were okay with it. It's not like I'm at all attracted to either of them so there wouldn't be much difference kissing Ryan instead of Sharpay. It might even be easier because I know Ryan isn't ever going to use the fact that the two of us have to kiss on stage to try to break us up or cause trouble. Chances are though Darbus would have had the kiss written out of the script if she gave the role to Ryan anyway. East High is not ready for something like that" he said smirking slightly. "But it's amazing how much easier Ryan is to dance with when he stands in for Sharpay at practice, he's not always trying to angle his body so he's in the spotlight or changing the steps without warning me to make himself look good. And he doesn't get angry when I don't learn the steps on the first try. I can just relax with him and go through the routine."

"I really wish you could have played the lead. It's really hard trying to play the role against Sharpay but I guess it's good practice, you're not going to be able to be in any of my theatre projects next year." Troy said trying to be positive so Gabriella wouldn't feel guilty that she'd chosen to do the Freshman Honours Program instead of play the lead in the musical.

Gabriella laughed at the idea of her extremely straight husband playing a gay role in front of the entire high school. "I bet your Dad would've been unhappy if Darbus had let Ryan have the role" she commented.

Troy laughed too "Unhappy! He would have gone ballistic. He probably would have thought Darbus had done it on purpose just to embarrass him."

"Well.." Gabriella said thoughtfully, "I'm not saying that would be the only reason Darbus would agree to cast Ryan instead of Sharpay, but I bet she'd get a kick out of Jack's reaction." She started to laugh.

Troy continued to laugh too "Yeah, I would have liked to see the fight the two of them had over that."

"Only if you weren't in the middle of it" Gabriella replied.

"I would hate to do that to Ryan too. Everyone knows I'm married but he would have copped a lot of teasing and rumours that he was gay. There are quite a few openly homophobic guys at East High. School's been hard enough for him without starting all that up again" Troy said seriously.

"Do you think he is gay?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"He's always denied it. I know he was picked on a lot before we all became friends for dressing like he does, but I think that's mostly just his personality" Troy replied.

"But what do you really think?" Gabriella said ignoring the way Troy had clearly tried to avoid answering the question.

"I think he's my friend. If he is gay and he ever decides to come out and tell us he is I'll support him, but until he does that I'm going to believe him when he tells me he's straight" Troy said firmly refusing to engage in speculation. "I think a lot of his feminine traits are just because he's spent his whole life in Sharpay's shadow."

"You haven't told me anything about Chad and Taylor, have they been fighting again?" Taylor had denied arguing with Chad when they spoke on the phone but something didn't seem right between them.

Troy shook his head thoughtfully "No they aren't actually fighting any more than usual. Chad describes it as 'differences of opinion'. I think they are having difficulty coming to terms with how far apart they will be next year. I don't think they're going to make it" he warned his wife, knowing that their friends would need their support when the breakup came. And that as best friends to each of the couple they were going to be put in the middle of the situation whether they liked it or not.

Gabriella frowned agreeing with Troy. She honestly didn't see a future for her friends as a couple. "I think they've already made the decision to break up when they leave Albuquerque. That's the problem they're trying to keep their relationship going when they've already given up on it in their hearts. The tension is getting to them."

"It might be easier for them to break up now then, rather than put themselves through all this for a relationship that's going to end soon anyway" Troy said sadly.

"That's what Mum thought about us when she told us about the marriage contract. She was wrong. Love is worth fighting for" Gabriella said angrily.

"Gabriella no! That's not what I meant. The situation between Taylor and Chad is nothing like it was between us. No-one is forcing Chad and Taylor to break up before they leave for college. They could stay together if they wanted to. I know Taylor has her heart set on Yale but either Chad could have applied to colleges in Boston, or they could try a long distance relationship. They've chosen to break up because it's easier than working it out. I'm just saying that if they've made the decision to end their relationship, then really it's already over. They're just fooling themselves by trying to stay together until the end of the summer. They'd be better off making a clean break of things and work on staying friends" Troy tried to explain.

Gabriella sighed "You're right" she admitted reluctantly "It's just sad that they can be so good together and they don't want to make the effort to make it work. I had visions of the four of us visiting each other like you mom and dad visit Robert and Sandra. Watching our children grow up as friends."

"Yeah well you know those visits really haven't worked for me since I was little" Troy laughed. "But that doesn't mean we can't visit them they're still our friends it just means we will have two separate families to visit. Chad and I will teach our kids to play basketball, and you and Taylor will help them with their studies and to run for student class president and stuff."

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, CimorelliMIA, broadwaybaby2010, Wildcats2016, Ceciliaa93, cupcakedream and the other anonymous reviewers for your support.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

They walked silently back to the dorm, both thinking sadly of their friends relationship. "Did you speak to your dorm mates about not feeling like they had to stay out to give us some privacy?" Troy asked as they reached the building.

"Yeah I did. They really did already have plans to go out tonight." Gabriella said smiling.

"And they really are okay with me staying the weekend?" Troy asked.

"Yeah they are Troy. They think that it's really romantic that you came all this way to see me. We had a meeting last Monday night about thinks like overnight visitors and all agreed that we wouldn't bring strangers back to the dorm but Casey has a boyfriend that she hopes will come visit her next weekend and we all agreed it would be okay. It never occurred to me that you'd come all this way though" Gabriella said hugging him.

"I'm glad I managed to surprise you" Troy said hugging back before letting go to allow Gabriella to open the door.

They got in the elevator and Troy immediately pushed Gabriella up against the wall gently and began making out.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked confused by his out of character behaviour.

"We've never made out in an elevator" Troy replied with a cheeky grin and our place next year won't have one so I thought we should make the most of this opportunity.

Gabriella laughed and pulled his head back down "Far be it from me to deny us a new experience" she said kissing him. "But don't think you're going to distract me into forgetting that you need to eat the rest of your dinner."

Troy laughed "No ma'am. That wasn't my intention."

They entered the flat and Gabriella headed straight to the kitchen to heat up Troy's meal. She sat with him as he ate. "This is really good Gabriella" he said appreciatively.

"Thanks Troy" Gabriella said smiling.

Troy finished eating and automatically got up and washed his dishes. "You Mom's trained you well" Gabriella teased.

"Actually think it was your Mom" Troy replied smiling.

"It felt a bit awkward at first living with each other's parents didn't it?" Gabriella reminisced.

"Yeah" Troy agreed. "It was worth it though. Do you still feel awkward at Mom and Dad's?" he asked.

"No not most of the time, occasionally when we're in bed and I know they could hear us if we did anything. I am looking forward to having our own place though."

Troy grinned "Yeah so am I" he agreed. "Are you ready for bed or do you want to watch a movie he said gesturing to the TV.

"I think we only have a couple of chick flicks" Gabriella said smiling.

Troy gave a huge sigh "I guess it wouldn't kill me just this once so long as you swear you won't tell Chad" he said dramatically.

Gabriella laughed. "I don't think I need to put you through that tonight. Do you need another massage tonight?"

"My shoulder could use another going over and there are some spots you missed earlier that would appreciate some attention" Troy said grinning.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at him "I'll just bet they would. Come on" she said laughing.

Troy walked into the bedroom and started stripping off his clothes. Gently moving and stretching his sore shoulder.

"How is it?" Gabriella asked.

Troy shrugged "It should be well enough tomorrow" he said handing Gabriella the massage oil.

"Is this going to be enough?" she asked anxiously.

"Yeah it's much better than it was" Troy reassured her.

Troy sat on the bed while Gabriella massaged his shoulder groaning as her gentle touch aroused him

Gabriella smirked as she heard his reaction glancing down to see that he was fully erect. Pouring a little more oil on her hand she wrapped it around him stroking slowly.

Troy kissed her passionately his hands impatiently tugging her clothes off before pushing her back to lie on the bed kissing his way down her neck towards her breasts.

Gabriella moaned arching up into his mouth "Make love to me" she said.

Troy ripped open the condom and was in the process of rolling it into place when he suddenly swore pulling it off and running to the bathroom. Gabriella got up and slowly followed finding Troy in the shower washing his groin area.

"You decided you'd rather take care of yourself?" Gabriella asked uncertainly.

Troy turned and smiled "I'd ask you to join me but your friends will be home soon" he said turning off the water.

"Troy what's wrong?" Gabriella asked.

"Nothing's wrong Gabi" he said wrapping his arms around her. "I just remembered that latex and oil don't mix, so I came to make sure it was washed off."

"Oh the massage oil..." she began horrified.

"...would have weakened the condom. I didn't want to take the risk" Troy completed. "It's okay Gabriella, it didn't happen. I remembered in time." He wrapped his towel around his waist and they returned to the bedroom. He picked up and threw out the condom, wiped his hands and got out a new one putting it on the pillow hoping Gabriella would still feel like using it.

Gabriella sat on the edge of the bed seeming deep in thought. Troy sat down beside her and wrapped his good arm around her shoulders. "Talk to me Gabi?" he asked.

Gabriella took a deep breath and smiled at Troy "I love you Troy" she said quietly.

"I love you Gabriella. I'm sorry I didn't explain better what was happening" he replied.

"That's okay Troy. I'm just glad that you remembered" she said.

"Do you want to try again or just cuddle up and get some sleep and maybe have another go in the morning?"

"It has kind of spoiled the mood hasn't it?" Gabriella said laughing.

"I'm sure I could get it back if you want to try" Troy responded leering playfully.

Gabriella laughed and kissed him swinging herself around to straddle his lap. "I love seeing you wearing my shirts" Troy said running his hands up under it.

"Gabriella smirked "Well they just smell so good" she said cheekily.

Troy buried his nose into the junction between her neck and shoulder. "You smell good. I'm going to take home the shirt you've been wearing all week and wear it to bed. Maybe it'll help me sleep" he said breathing deeply.

"Or give you wet dreams" Gabriella teased.

Troy laughed "Pleasant dreams at any rate" he agreed.

As Troy's nose was still buried in the crook of Gabriella's neck his laugher shot vibrations through her causing her to squirm.

"Gabriella if you don't want to make love tonight then you really need to sit still" Troy said in a low voice clenching his fists to control the urge to thrust up against her core.

Gabriella smirked then deliberately increased her squirming.

Troy growled and grasped her hips thrusting against her. Gabriella moved herself back away from his erection causing Troy to whine in disappointment. She ripped open the condom with her teeth and efficiently rolled it into place before lining him up with her entrance and sinking down onto him.

Troy moaned in delight his hands gentling on Gabriella's hips to support her as she controlled the pace, helping her keep her balance as she slowly drove him mad.

Gabriella heard her friends arrive home and tangled her hands into Troy's hair pulling his face up into a fierce kiss.

She increased her pace, clenching her muscles around him, swallowing Troy's groan of completion.

Troy fell back and to the side pulling Gabriella on top of him and they rolled off the bed.

"Are you hurt?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"Only my pride" Troy replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yes you make a great landing mat" Gabriella said giggling.

"Then do you think you should get off me so we can get back into bed?" Troy asked.

Gabriella climbed up still laughing and put her hand out to help Troy up. They collapsed on the bed laughing and Troy pulled the covers over them. "Night Gabriella" he said smiling at his wife.

"Night Troy I love you" Gabriella said getting comfortable sprawled over Troy.

"I love you too" Troy said cuddling her tightly.

Gabriella woke the next morning surprised that Troy was still in bed. She looked up expecting to see him sleeping to find him watching her.

"Good morning" he said huskily.

Gabriella smiled "Good morning. How long have you been awake?"

"About an hour" Troy said returning the smile.

"Did you get up and run and come back to bed?" Gabriella asked knowing that she had slept deeply enough for that.

"No I didn't feel like getting up to run this morning"

"Are you still sore?" Gabriella asked worriedly.

"No I was just enjoying lying here"

"Watching me sleep?" Gabriella asked amused.

"Being with you" Troy confirmed.

Gabriella leaned up and kissed him. "I love you" she said smiling. She stretched noticing Troy's erection as she brushed against it. "Do you want some help with that?" she asked.

"If you would like to help" Troy answered thrusting gently against her.

Gabriella shimmied down the bed and wrapped her lips around him and began humming 'you are the music in me'

Troy thrust one fist into his mouth to muffle his reaction threading the other gently through Gabriella's hair.

Gabriella winced and tried hard not to bite Troy as he inadvertently clenched his fist pulling her hair as he came.

He pulled Gabriella up and kissed her passionately ignoring the taste of himself mixed with the normal taste of her kisses.

"Wow" he whispered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome Troy" Gabriella said smiling.

"He moved to kiss his way down to return the favour.

"No I want you inside me" Gabriella said.

Troy ignored her.

"Troy" Gabriella protested.

Troy looked up "I'm happy to do both you know"

"Yes but I don't want to wait" she said reaching for a condom and tearing it open.

Troy took it from her and rolled it into place. "Fast or slow?" he asked.

"You pick" Gabriella suggested kissing him deeply, wrapping her legs around him pulling him down.

Troy rocked his hips slowly still kissing her passionately until she began to writhe desperately seeking more. He sped up slowly and watched the expressions on her face as she came.

Collapsing onto his elbows careful not to crush her Troy took a moment to catch his breath before cautiously rolling them onto their sides not wanting to fall out of bed again.

They cuddled for a while until Gabriella realised Troy was not going to fall asleep again and would probably soon start to fidget.

"Time to get up. You go for a run and I'll make you some breakfast when you get back" Gabriella ordered sitting up.

Troy smiled at how well his wife could read him. "Okay I won't be that long" Troy agreed pulling on his shorts and tank top.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, CimorelliMIA, Wildcats2016, Kiara and nytylerpluver91 for your support.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella got out of the shower and sat on the couch waiting for Troy to get back before starting breakfast searching for the literature she needed to begin her next assignment. Sophia came out of her room yawning. "Is the bathroom free?" she asked.

"Yeah I think Alia is still asleep" Gabriella nodded.

"Where's Troy?" Sophia asked half expecting Gabriella to say he wasn't feeling well enough to get out of bed.

"Out running" Gabriella said absently looking up from her book.

"After how wrecked he looked last night?" Sophia asked surprised.

Gabriella shrugged "He's fine, he needs to run the last of the stiffness out" she said.

"That sounds a bit harsh" Sophia commented.

"I didn't force him to run" she said ignoring the fact that she had ordered him to go.

"I thought you'd be offering him a more horizontal form of exercise this morning after he was too tired last night" Sophia teased smirking.

"Who said he wasn't up for it last night?" Gabriella asked smirking back.

"You were sitting studying last night after he fell asleep at the dinner table" Sophia reminded her.

"I did tell you he wouldn't sleep all night. He woke up and we went for a walk and he finished his dinner. You should get in the shower before he gets back" Gabriella suggested.

"Okay talk to you later" she said hurrying into the bathroom and Gabriella went back to her research.

By the time she got out of the shower Troy and Gabriella were in the kitchen making pancakes. "Hi Troy, showers free" Sophia said admiring the toned and sweaty body of her friend's husband.

"Thanks Sophia" Troy said leaving the room.

"You are one lucky woman" Sophia said quietly to Gabriella.

"Believe me I know that" Gabriella said smiling "And not just for his looks."

"What are you guys going to do today?" Sophia said stealing some pancakes.

"I don't know if Troy has anything planned. If he has to meet the team I might go along and have a look around the Berkeley campus. Otherwise we'll probably do some tourist stuff, maybe go to the beach if the weather's nice" Gabriella replied. "There's not much more we can do to plan for next year."

"That sounds fun" Sophia said.

"Do you have plans?" Gabriella asked her friend.

"Yeah I'm meeting Damon for lunch and then Alia and I are going to explore the other parts of the campus we haven't seen yet. Maybe check out the sports fields and see if some of the athletes are training" Sophia answered enthusiastically.

"Yeah this place is huge" Gabriella agreed smiling.

Sophia smiled realising that Gabriella had completely misread her motivations. "Well you and Troy have fun. You deserve a break from all the studying" Sophia said.

Troy came into the kitchen wearing jeans and a polo shirt and walked up behind Gabriella who was standing at the stove and wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug.

"Hey Troy. Hungry?" Gabriella said turning her head to give him a quick kiss.

"Starved" Troy said kissing the top of her head.

Gabriella handed him the pile of pancakes she had been keeping warm in the oven.

"Come sit and eat with me" Troy encouraged turning off the stove. "Sophia and Alia can cook the rest."

"Do you need to go to Berkeley today?" Gabriella asked.

"No not unless you'd like to see it" Troy replied smiling.

Gabriella thought for a moment "Not today" she said at last. "I do want to see it, maybe next year when you can show me around" she suggested wanting Troy to have the pleasure of showing her his campus like she had hers last night. "I was thinking we could go to the beach."

Troy smiled "That's a great idea" he said enthusiastically. "I'll go put on some shorts."

"It's beautiful here" Gabriella said as they walked along the sand.

"Yes it is" Troy said looking at Gabriella's smiling face.

"I can't believe I'd forgotten how much I loved walking on the beach" Gabriella said surprised at herself. "I wish we were going to live close enough to come here every day."

"Hayward's near the water too but in the harbour. There'll probably be a beach we can walk along near home next year" Troy replied encouragingly.

Gabriella smiled.

"Are you looking forward to moving here?" she asked seriously.

Troy thought for a moment how to best word his answer "I'm looking forward to having our own apartment but not to being so far away from our families and friends" he said. "I don't think I realised until now how hard it has been for you to stay in Albuquerque while Maria is in Mexico" he said apologetically.

"It would have been just as hard to go with her, maybe even harder" Gabriella replied reassuringly.

"Yes" Troy agreed. "And I know that Mom and Dad try but it's like when I was staying with you. I really like Maria, she did her best to make me feel at home and most of the time she succeeded but it still wasn't the same as living with Mom and Dad. And I still got to see Dad nearly every day and knew I could go home and visit whenever I wanted."

"I think that was probably part of the problem. You didn't have to emotionally commit to living with Mom because you still had a home just a couple of blocks away. It helped too that we moved to your parents' after we'd all been away together at Christmas. It felt like we were family" Gabriella said smiling.

"Yeah being all together over Christmas was great" Troy agreed also smiling at the memory. "Do you think Maria will come with us next year too?"

"I guess it depends on what Aunt Ginevra is planning to do for Christmas. We normally spend it with her" Gabriella reminded him.

"Will she be back from France or Italy or wherever she is?" Troy asked.

"I'm not sure. She talked about spending two years there but that was when she thought I would need to go into hiding until I turned eighteen" Gabriella said. "Even if she's still working in France she could still come home for Christmas."

Troy nodded "Yeah" he said thoughtfully, "would you want to stay and have Christmas with your mom and Ginevra?" he asked quietly. Troy would choose to stay with Gabriella but he would miss Christmas with his family.

"I don't know, Aunt Ginevra may decide to spend Christmas in Italy with Nonno and Nonna anyway. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"If it is just Ginevra maybe Aunt Denise could squeeze in one extra person" Troy suggested.

"That's not fair to your Aunt" Gabriella protested.

"She didn't mind having Maria" Troy pointed out.

"That's different we were in hiding it was an emergency" Gabriella said exaggerating slightly.

"It wouldn't have mattered she invited Maria to come again any year she was free" Troy argued.

"Yes now that Denise knows her. I wouldn't want to take advantage of your aunt's hospitality like that."

"Aunt Denise would rather have an extra person stay for Christmas than know your mom was worrying about her sister being alone" Troy said quietly.

Gabriella let the subject drop knowing they would continue to disagree and not wanting to let it escalate into an argument. She lay back enjoying the feel of the sun on her face.

They were both quiet for a while thinking their own thoughts. "Are you enjoying the honours program?" Troy asked breaking the silence.

"I enjoy the challenge of the classes though it is a lot of work each day to be prepared for them all. The professors all seem great and I'm looking forward to the research projects" Gabriella replied.

"You're really bored by the classes at East High aren't you?" Troy said sadly.

"I love East High" Gabriella protested.

Troy just looked at her.

"Yes most of the classes are too easy" Gabriella admitted. "But all the other schools I've gone to have been the same. I love the school itself and I have my correspondence classes to keep my brain occupied."

"So you're really looking forward to college?" Troy asked.

"I feel the same way you do. I'm looking forward to the classes and having our own apartment but at the same time I wish we could stay at East High with all our friends a little longer" Gabriella said almost sadly.

"We still have the summer" Troy said reassuringly.

"Remember when you were little and summer vacation seemed to go almost forever" Gabriella said.

Troy smiled "Yeah" he agreed "Summer seems to get shorter every year."

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5 , Kiara, CimorelliMIA, Wildcats2016, Ceciliaa93, hayster83 and guest for you support. Sorry about the delay in finishing this chapter.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

It was late by the time Troy and Gabriella returned from the beach feeling sandy and slightly sunburned. "You take the first shower and I'll start dinner" Troy suggested. "Should I cook enough for the others too?" he asked.

"Just Sophia and Alia, Casey went home for the weekend" she said realising Troy might not have noticed her absence.

Alia arrived home just as Troy washed his hands and efficiently started dinner. She stood in the kitchen doorway watching quietly for a moment then decided to leave him in peace. She didn't know Troy at all well but the way she had seen he and Gabriella looking at each other was enough to make her trust him.

Troy had dinner in the oven by the time Gabriella got out of the shower. She made a salad while he showered quickly, Gabriella stopping Sophia just in time as she arrived home and ran through the flat for the toilet. "Troy's in the shower" she said calmly.

"Oh Damn I've got to go" Sophia exclaimed running back out of the flat to the public toilet at the end of the hall with her knees locked together.

"Did you have a good day?" Gabriella asked amused when she returned.

"Yeah we ended up going shopping. I found the cutest shoes" Sophia said enthusiastically.

"Do yourself a favour, never agree to go shopping with her" Alia interrupted coming out and throwing herself on the couch. "I'm exhausted."

"The shops are so great here we don't have anything like it at home" Sophia defended her actions.

Gabriella laughed. "I'm not much of a one for shopping" she said siding with Alia in this argument.

"But all of your clothes are almost new" Sophia said surprised.

Gabriella laughed again "Yeah my father was stupid enough to let Mom take me shopping with his credit card late last year. Word of advice never give a pissed off ex access to your money. He owed Mom ten years of child support and we spent nearly twenty thousand dollars before we maxed out the card so I have more clothes and stuff than I ever thought I could need."

Alia and Sophia laughed "Go Mom" Alia cheered.

"She bought a heap of linen and stuff too for when I moved out" Gabriella said looking at Troy. "Not furniture and kitchen appliances but almost everything else we will need."

"That'll make life easier" Troy said unconcerned that she hadn't told him earlier. "Is it all in storage?"

"I think most of it is in those boxes in your parents' basement in case her assignment in Mexico gets extended beyond August" Gabriella replied. "You can have a look when you get home" she offered.

"No I'll wait until summer and we can go through it together" Troy replied. Getting up to check the oven. He got four plates out of the cupboard and dished up placing them on the table. "Sit down and eat with us while it's hot" he said.

"You cooked for us" Sophia squealed.

Troy and Gabriella smiled in amusement. "Yeah I'm not totally useless in the kitchen" Troy retorted.

"I think he actually cooks better than I do" Gabriella said smiling at him as he blushed slightly. "And more often lately" she added.

"You've been busy trying to finish up everything to come here" Troy said smiling at her.

"Didn't your teachers let you off finishing stuff knowing you were starting college early?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah my school gave me extra credit for the freshman honours program so I could miss these three weeks and still graduate" Alia agreed. "You shouldn't have had to make up the work."

Gabriella shrugged. "East High offered me the extra credit and exemptions but I'm taking three college classes by correspondence this semester. I needed to complete them to get the credit for them."

"Wow this is great Troy" Alia said tasting her meal and losing track of the conversation.

"Yeah Troy you can stay and cook for us anytime" Sophia said grinning.

Troy smiled and looked to see if Gabriella was enjoying her meal.

"It's wonderful" she said smiling at him.

The other two smiled at the couple amused that Gabriella's opinion had mattered to Troy so much more than theirs.

"What are you going to do tonight we're going to watch Lord of the Rings do you want to join us?" Alia asked as she finished her meal.

"Sure I'll just clean up in here" Troy replied getting up.

"Oh no you don't mister" Gabriella said firmly surprising her friends. "You cooked so we'll clean up. If we're going to watch movies you need to go and run off some energy so you can sit without fidgeting."

Troy turned puppy dog eyes on her. "I ran this morning and we swam in the surf" he said not keen on the idea of going back out when he felt relaxed.

"Troy, you need to exercise. There are basketball courts down that way if you don't want to run" Gabriella said determinedly showing him on the map of the campus.

"We could come watch you shoot some hoops" Sophia said enthusiastically.

"Well if we're all going to go watch we better get going before it gets too dark. I'll do the dished when we get back" Gabriella said going to grab a jumper while Troy changed into basketball clothes.

They walked over to the courts companionably and sat on the grass beside the court as Troy started to warm up.

"You were a bit harsh with him" Alia commented.

"Gabriella thought back to what she'd said to him earlier and frowned.

"You sounded like his mother for a moment" Sophia teased.

Gabriella sighed and nodded. "Yeah I guess I'll have to apologise later. I hope I didn't upset him" she said.

"Is he really that bad?" Alia asked.

"Troy's one of the rare people that seems to suffer from hyperactivity without having ADD or ADHD" Gabriella explained. "He can control it most of the time but he gets jittery when he hasn't had plenty of exercise and watching a movie he's seen a dozen times already isn't going to hold his attention enough to be able to sit still enough not to distract everybody. It can be very frustrating for Troy just as much as everyone else" Gabriella tried to explain.

"So you sent him out to run for his sake" Alia asked snarkily.

"For everyone's sake but yes he hates it when he gets jittery like that. If I didn't send him out running before we started the movie then he'd end up going later in the middle after driving us all mad with his fidgeting" Gabriella said defensively. "One movie would probably been okay but the trilogy is too long."

"Oh hush Alia. It's not like you didn't want to see him play" Sophia scolded her friend as they watched some boys approach Troy and begin to play two on two.

"You won't see too much in a casual game like this" Gabriella said. "Especially as they may be the opposition next year."

Gabriella was correct of course Troy was aware that the other boys or someone watching could possibly be on the Stanford basketball team and did not want to show the opposition his strengths and weaknesses just yet. And if they were just a couple of friends playing for fun he didn't want to outclass them to the point they weren't enjoying the game. In spite of this he moved with natural grace and the girls enjoyed watching him though Gabriella could see him holding back.

"I always think it is such a pity that basketball uniforms are so old fashioned" Sophia complained.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked.

"Well runners and cyclists have much more interesting uniforms" Sophia said.

"She means she wished they were wearing tight lycra that leaves nothing to the imagination" Alia interrupted.

"Well you can't argue that Troy wouldn't look wonderful in tight shorts" Sophia said defensively.

Gabriella laughed "He wouldn't be comfortable dressed like that though" she replied not denying Sophia's comment.

"He would if it was their uniform. He'd be used to it" Sophia argued.

"Those pants are one of the reasons Troy doesn't run track in the off season" Gabriella retorted. "Yes he'd wear them to play basketball if he had to but he wouldn't like it and I'm glad they play in baggy shorts."

Troy played until he noticed Gabriella starting to shiver then abandoned the game and came over. Gabriella immediately started pulling off his jacket which she'd wrapped around herself as the weather cooled.

"No Baby keep it on I'm warm enough" he protested.

"You'll catch a chill, or make your muscles cramp if they cool down too quickly" Gabriella said.

"I'll just have to hurry back to the dorm" he said grinning teasingly before picking her up and running back to the dorm building with her in his arms as if she barely weighed anything at all.

Gabriella was shrieking to be put down and squirming in his arms dramatically while being careful not to make him lose his grip and drop her. Alia followed the couple laughing at their antics while Sophia stayed to chat up the boys Troy had been playing basketball with.

The entrance was crowded with people waiting for the elevator and several people both male and female looked on jealously as Troy effortlessly carried Gabriella up the four flights of stairs to their dorm. He put Gabriella down so she could unlock the door and then picked her up again and sat in the armchair holding her firmly on his lap. "I'm ready to sit still and watch movies now" he said.

"Are you sure you don't want to shower or change first?" Gabriella asked cautiously not wanting to seem like she was telling him what to do.

Troy sighed "Yeah I should" he agreed and hurried to wash and put his jeans and shirt from earlier back on before the others arrived back and got ready to start the movie.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA, Kiara, jojor99, genius2050, BestSongEver and Guest for your support.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella fell asleep in the middle of the second movie and Troy used that as an excuse to say goodnight to the others and carried her to bed. He lay her down and quickly stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed pulling her into his arms. He knew that he needed to sleep but he couldn't help lying there and just watching Gabriella sleep. There was less than twelve hours before he had to start driving back to Albuquerque and his heart ached at the thought of leaving her again. Eventually he dropped off to sleep.

Troy was awake early the next morning and as much as he wanted to just lie there with Gabriella he knew it was early enough that with a little luck he could run, shower and be back in bed before Gabriella woke up.

He pushed himself hard that morning knowing he would be spending most of the day sitting in his truck and returned hot and sweaty. Showering quickly he had just wrapped the towel around his waist when Alia stumbled sleepily into the bathroom and ran into him.

"Oh God I'm sorry Troy" she said.

Troy shrugged "No harm done" he said stepping around her and grabbing his stuff with one hand to leave the bathroom.

Behind him Alia sat on the toilet and dropped her face into her hands "How on earth am I going to face him and Gabriella" she asked herself.

Troy dropped the towel and slipped into bed gently wrapping his arm around Gabriella hoping not to wake her.

Gabriella moaned slightly and cuddled in to Troy making desire pound through his veins.

He lay stiffly trying desperately not to thrust against her when she moved in her sleep unintentionally rubbing against his erection. Troy groaned and Gabriella stirred slightly inadvertently making the situation worse.

Gabriella woke feeling the tension in Troy's body as she lay sprawled across him. For a moment she wondered what was wrong but then realised she could feel his erection poking her hip. Pretending to still be sleeping she rolled on top of him further making sure to brush her body along his.

"Gabriella you're killing me" Troy murmured quietly making Gabriella start to giggle.

"You little witch!" Troy exclaimed. "How long have you been awake?"

Gabriella laughed "Having problems dearest?" she teased.

Troy growled and flipped them over so she was pinned beneath him and started kissing her passionately.

Gabriella returned the kiss running her hands up and down his back. Realising that his hair was wet she drew back for a minute. "Have you had a shower?" she asked.

"Yeah I ran this morning and you were still asleep so I got back into bed" Troy explained not even remembering the incident with Alia. He bent his head and continued kissing Gabriella his hands working their way under her shirt breaking the kiss to pull it over her head. He slowly moved lower covering her neck and breasts with kisses and sliding her knickers off.

Gabriella reached over to bedside for a condom and tore it open before handing it to him. Troy smiled and quickly rolled it into place before sinking into her warmth. "Oh God I'm close Gabi" he warned her.

"Just let go Troy you can take it slow next time" she whispered clenching her internal walls around him.

Troy started thrusting erratically burying his face in her neck to muffle his moans as he came.

Gabriella lay there holding him tightly as the tension I his body relaxed and his breathing evened out. She placed a finger over his lips to stop him from voicing the apology she could see in his eyes. "Shh Troy it's fine" she whispered.

"But.."

"No Troy you did what I told you to do. I can't complain about that, besides it feels like you're nearly ready to go again already" Gabriella said quietly.

"I love you" Troy said quietly. He immediately withdrew and carefully disposed of the condom cleaning himself up with tissues before reaching for a new one. He met Gabriella's eyes questioningly and she smiled taking it from him and putting it on, before guiding him back to her entrance using her legs wrapped around him to pull him inside. Troy lay still for a moment just savouring the sensation of being intimately connected before slowly rocking his hips. He manoeuvred his hand slowly between their bodies to rub his fingers over Gabriella's core intensifying the sensations for her bringing her over the edge twice before picking up the pace. Gabriella's third orgasm tipped him over as well and they came together.

"I love you Troy" Gabriella said as she finally got her breath back. "That was Wow!"

"Yeah" Troy smiled.

"What time do you have to leave?" Gabriella asked quietly looking at the clock.

Troy sighed "I should get on the road soon. I promised Mom I'd be home tonight" he said getting up and pulling on his clothes. He packed up his things leaving Gabriella a couple of his shirts and packing the one she'd stolen originally.

Gabriella pulled on her sweats and went into the kitchen to make Troy some breakfast and pack a lunch for him.

Troy ate quickly and kissed Gabriella goodbye. "I'll pick you up at the airport on Friday" he said.

"I'll call you tonight" she said nodding.

"I love you Gabriella" Troy said kissing her lightly.

"Bye Troy I love you" Gabriella said making an effort to smile at him as he left.

Gabriella sank down onto the couch sighing. She curled up, wrapping her arms around her knees and closed her eyes.

"Hey Gabriella, are you okay" Sophia asked stretching as she came out of her room.

"Yeah just missing Troy"

"He's gone already" Sophia asked surprised. "It's barely eight o'clock"

"It's a sixteen hour drive" Gabriella reminded her. "He promised his Mom he'd be home tonight."

"I still have trouble believing he drove so far" Sophia said "But I'm glad he did. You've been much happier and more relaxed since he came. Were you worried about him being at school without you?"

"No I was a little worried that he seemed down but mostly I just missed him" Gabriella answered.

"Does that mean you'll be all gloomy again in a day or two?" Sophia asked laughing.

Gabriella shrugged "I hope not. I'm going home for Prom next weekend so hopefully I shall be able to keep my spirits up until then."

"What are you wearing to Prom? Do you need a new dress?" Sophia asked excitedly.

"No Lucille bought me a dress a couple of weeks ago. I was going to wear my wedding dress but she and Mom suggested it was a bit too fancy and I would hate to risk having it ruined" Gabriella said laughing. "Besides I still remember Alia's warning last night."

Sophia laughed "I swear it wasn't that bad. There's no decent shopping at all at home, the mall's an hour away and I'm needed to help out in the business most weekends. Besides half of the walking we did was sight-seeing and just finding our way around."

"Who is Lucille?" Alia asked.

"Troy's Mom"

"Wasn't it a bit odd shopping with your boyfriends Mom?" Alia asked.

"No Lucille's a stylist for a real estate company and I've helped her shop a couple of times. She has fantastic taste and we're really close. She's teaching me to cook too."

"Wait a minute didn't Troy say your Mom taught him to cook?" Sophia asked confused.

"Mom taught him the basics when we were living with her last year, but his Mom teaches us both things when we have time" Gabriella explained.

"Well whoever taught him to cook last night's dinner needs a medal" Sophia said.

"That was Lucille, she's sent me some meals for during the week in the freezer. We could share one night" Gabriella offered.

"That's hardly fair Gabriella I can't cook to save myself" Alia said.

"Then you can clean up instead" Sophia suggested.

Gabriella's phone chimed and she read Troy's text.

TRUCK RUNNING WELL

MISSING U ALREADY

LOVE U

"That lover boy already" Sophia teased.

"Yes he promised to text me each time he stops so I'll know he's alright. I think it was his Mom's suggestion" Gabriella replied calmly texting back. "LOVE U"

"So you're going to spend the whole day glued to your phone" Sophia complained.

A/N: I have no intention of writing another whole chapter detailing Troy's journey home. Suffice it to say Troy made it home safely, by some miracle his truck did not break down and that he contacted Gabriella and his parents often enough that none of them were upset with him though they did worry while he was on the road.

A/N2: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, broadwaybaby2010, CimorelliMIA, Ceciliaa93, stilldreamer888 and the 2 guests who reviewed anonymously for your support.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy arrived home just after midnight to find his mother working at the dining room table and his father watching an old basketball game in the lounge bth obviously waiting up for him.

"Hi I'm home" he said quietly.

"Troy thank goodness" Lucille said hurrying over to hug him.

"I'm on schedule Mom. I didn't expect you to be this worried" Troy said surprised.

"I know that but you sounded so tired last time I rang you and I didn't hear your truck"

Troy reached out and pulled the earplugs from his mother's ears. "Of course you didn't" he said.

"I'm sorry Troy I was concentrating, but normally your truck is loud enough to hear even with the earplugs in" Lucille said frowning.

"Hey" Troy protested playfully.

"Oh Hi Troy. I didn't hear you come in. Did your truck break down somewhere I didn't hear it?" Jack said.

Lucille laughed and kissed his cheek "Have you rung Gabriella to let her know you're home?" she asked.

Troy nodded "I text her as I pulled in the drive" he said. "I'm going to hit the sack"

"Goodnight Troy. Don't stay up half the night talking to Gabriella" his mother said firmly.

"I won't Mom. She's going to sleep now too" Troy said walking up the stairs.

"Night Troy" Jack called.

"Night Dad, don't wake me up to run tomorrow I'm going to take a day off" Troy said tiredly.

Jack looked like he wanted to protest but Lucille elbowed him none too gently in the ribs and he then noticed how tired his son was and agreed. "Okay Troy you can make it up tomorrow after school."

Troy sighed but chose not to argue.

Lucille had to wake Troy for school the next morning, Jack having left early. It was a long time since she'd been in to wake him and she knocked on the door. "Troy it's time to get up for school" she called.

When there was no answer she opened the door a crack and saw him still sleeping. "Troy you need to wake up or you'll be late for school" she said loudly.

Troy rolled over groaning "I'm up" he said without opening his eyes.

"Very convincing" Lucille said sarcastically. "I'll believe you when you actually get out of bed.

Troy sat up "Uh Mom can I have a little privacy" he asked realising he'd slept in the nude and not wanting to have to expose himself in front of his mother.

"If I don't hear that shower in the next two minutes I'm coming back to drag you out of bed" Lucille warned leaving the room.

Troy got up and hurriedly pulled on some sweat pants before heading to the shower. Ten minutes later he was woken by Lucille banging on the bathroom door and telling him to wake up and get out of the shower and come down for breakfast.

When Troy fell asleep again at the breakfast table (though not before eating a large breakfast) Lucille shook her head and gently woke him up and shepherded him back to his bedroom and tucked him into bed like she hadn't done in years before ringing Jack to have him inform the school that Troy wouldn't be attending that day.

"You can't wake him up?" Jack asked annoyed when his wife had explained the situation.

"I have woken him up several times including once in the shower and once at the table. If he falls asleep in homeroom Ms Darbus will have in detention for a month" Lucille replied, strategically redirecting her husband's anger away from their son.

Jack sighed "Okay I'll let his teachers know" he agreed.

Troy finally woke early afternoon and looking at the time bolted from the bed realised he was somehow fully dressed and ran downstairs intending to find his mother in the hope she would write him a note to explain his late arrival at school.

"Mom I must have slept through my alarm will you write me a note" he pleaded.

Lucille burst out laughing.

"Mom?" Troy asked surprised.

"Troy don't you remember this morning at all?" his mother asked.

Troy thought for a moment "No" he answered confused.

"I woke you up, you fell asleep in the shower and then again at the table so sent you back to bed"

Troy looked at her astonished. "I really got up and showered and ate breakfast?" he asked astonished. "I don't remember any of it."

Lucille smiled gently "well you were pretty sleepy" she said agreeably.

Troy laughed. "I guess I better get to school. I can still make my afternoon classes" he said.

"No Troy. I told them you wouldn't be in today. Take the day off and catch up on your homework and stuff and start fresh tomorrow" Lucille encouraged.

"No I have rehearsals this afternoon. Darbus will kill me if I miss it. We are still trying to catch up after having to reorganise roles when Gabriella pulled out" Troy replied.

He arrived at school just as the warning bell went at the end of lunch and hurried to class. As luck would have it he didn't have class with any of his close friends this afternoon so he was able to concentrate on his class work.

He arrived at rehearsals to hear Ms Darbus ask Sharpay for her decision.

"I'll play the part the way it is written" Sharpay said almost sulkily. She was still not happy about having been told off in front of everyone the week before but knew that if she pulled out of the production this close to the opening that it would harm her chances of getting into a top drama school. She had her heart set on going to Julliard

and knew that playing the lead in her senior year production would be necessary to be considered.

Ms Darbus smiled "Okay everyone where going to run through the second act. Starting places please" she called.

The cast groaned good naturedly and got into position. As the rehearsal went on Sharpay was on her best behaviour singing the songs exactly as they'd been written without complaint though Troy could tell from her expression that there were several times that she wanted to argue with Darbus' direction, and she snapped at Ryan and Kelsi when Ms Darbus was out of earshot.

Ms. Darbus drove them hard and it was late by the time Troy arrived home secretly praying that his father wouldn't remember his claim that Troy would need to run and train that night.

Troy walked into the house to hear Jack and Lucille arguing while they were washing the dishes together (or Lucille was washing dishes and Jack was trying to sneak a second helping of dinner.) He stopped just out of sight to listen to their disagreement.

"Stop that it's Troy's dinner" Lucille scolded slapping Jack's hand away from their son's dinner.

"Well where is he then?" Jack grumbled.

"He had rehearsal after school and he told me that it probably would run late" Lucille replied.

"So he was too tired to go to school today but he still spent all afternoon hanging around theatre rehearsals?" Jack asked disbelievingly.

"He attended his afternoon classes. You would have made the same decision I did if you had have seen him this morning" Lucille snapped.

"If he was still that tired this morning there is no way he should have driven all that way in one day yesterday" Jack growled.

"Yes you're right. We are very lucky that he didn't fall asleep behind the wheel" Lucille agreed quietly. "At least there's no need for him to do it again. Gabriella will be home for Prom next weekend and then back to stay the weekend after that. Hopefully she will be able to share the driving if they ever decide to drive home from college."

"I'll have to give her more lessons" Jack said frowning as he realised that it had been quite a while since he'd found time to take Gabriella out to practice her driving skills.

"I think Troy has been giving her some lessons as well" Lucille said.

"Not in that truck of his!" Jack exclaimed horrified.

"No he borrows my car" Lucille reassured him.

Troy decided that it was time to join the conversation "Are you dissing my truck?" he asked his father as he walked into the kitchen. "Hey mama" he said kissing his mother on the cheek.

"Hi Troy your dinner's on the bench, what's left of it" she said with a cross glance at her husband. "Eat up and I'll make you something else if you're still hungry. How was rehearsal?"

"Full on. Darbus is insane, but I think we'll be ready for opening night" Troy said between bites of dinner.

He quickly finished his meal. "I'm going to head up and get started on my homework. I'll be talking to Gabriella probably about ten thirty if you want to say hello" he said putting his dishes in the sink.

"Did you collect the assignments from the classes you missed this morning?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah Mom" Troy said rolling his eyes.

Troy had completed all of his homework before ten thirty and he was reading over his science for a test later in the week waiting for Gabriella to respond to his skype request.

Gabriella's phone chimed it's alarm which she had set so she wouldn't lose track of time and not call Troy. She quickly opened skype on her laptop and accepted Troy's call.

"Hi Wildcat" she said smiling at him.

"Hello beautiful" he responded smiling back.

"How was your day? Are you still tired?" she asked surprised that Troy wasn't already in bed after driving so far the day before.

"A little. I slept until lunchtime. Mom said I wouldn't stay awake when she woke me for breakfast so she sent me back to bed. I don't even remember getting up" Troy said laughing.

"Troy" Gabriella exclaimed her eyes widening in fright at the thought of Troy being that tired while driving Sunday night.

"It's okay Gabriella. I wasn't sleepy while I was driving or I would have pulled over and slept in the truck" Troy tried to reassure her.

"You're never going to try to drive that far in one day again" Gabriella demanded. "Promise me you won't."

"I promise Gabriella. Next time I drive to California we'll stop somewhere for the night."

"I'll ;et you go and get some sleep. I don't want you to wear yourself out and get sick" Gabriella said. "I love you Troy sleep well."

"I love you Gabriella" Troy replied automatically. "But I'm not that tired tell me about your day?" he asked.

"Get ready for bed and I'll talk to you while you fall asleep" Gabriella compromised.

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute" Troy agreed and hurried to wash up and brush his teeth before stripping and sliding into bed shifting his monitor to face the bed.

"How was your day? Do you have much more work to do for tomorrow?"

"Not really I was ahead already from studying while you were napping Friday night" Gabriella said teasingly. "How is everyone?"

"I really only talked to Ryan and Kelsi. Darbus had us split up working on different things most of the afternoon" Troy replied. "From a distance it looked like Taylor and Chad have fallen out again they weren't together any of the times I saw them. Or maybe Taylor was just busy with Prom committee or yearbook or something. They didn't look upset"

Gabriella took over the conversation quietly telling him about various things that had happened since he'd left the morning before, smiling as he fell asleep on her and she'd planned. "Goodnight Troy" she said softly disconnecting the call.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, adcgordon, stilldreamer888, CimorelliMIA, Wildcats2016, nathanandhaley4ever, BigFan and Peaceloa for your support.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy was much more alert on Tuesday, his father had woken him early and they'd run 7 mile and played some one-on –one before Lucille had come out and scolded them for not getting ready for school. "Honestly you two it's like having a pair of second graders" she grumbled.

"Sorry Mama" Troy said hurrying in to shower.

"I guess we just lost track of time" Jack said apologetically kissing her cheek as she handed him his coffee.

"You'll be lucky if you don't have the neighbours all complaining of you waking them up again" Lucille said sternly.

"It wasn't that early we ran first" Jack protested.

"It didn't seem that early to you but the Johnson's are retired I rarely see their curtains open before nine" Lucille scolded. "Not everyone likes to get up at dawn."

Jack drained his cup and made a strategic retreat to the shower knowing that this was one argument Lucille would always win.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA, BestSongEver, The Dark Lord Redrall, Lizardkingsgirl, 1 speedsONEandONLY, xostephanie66 and spiker 1410 for your support.

Troy arrived at school just before the bell and hurried to Homeroom. He knew that it wouldn't matter if he was late. He had rehearsals all afternoon and most free periods and lunch times every day for the next two weeks and any detention Darbus gave him would be spent in the auditorium rehearsing anyway. He slid into his seat in front of Chad and turned to greet his friend.

Troy had noticed Taylor glaring at him throughout Homeroom and hurried to leave before she could catch him. Unfortunately Chad and the others wanted to hear about his weekend and he didn't manage to get away in time.

"That's a long drive just for a booty call"

"Jerk" Troy muttered.

"How is Gabriella?" Taylor asked

"She's great. She's really enjoying the challenge of the honours program" Troy answered a bit surprised Taylor was being friendly.

"Did she manage to get all her work done over the weekend. Honestly Troy you've seen how busy she's been every night with homework and research for classes. I don't know how you could think she had time to entertain a visitor especially as you arrived before the weekend. I hope you didn't make her miss any classes or turn up top class underprepared"

"No she didn't miss any classes and I gave her time to study over the weekend" Troy said patiently knowing the extreme importance Taylor placed on schoolwork and study.

"Yes but we all know your idea of plenty of time to study doesn't quite match up with mine or Gabriella's. I expect that Gabriella has quite a lot of catching up to do. She was certainly too busy to talk to me last night and she sounded quite stressed out when I called on Sunday. It was very inconsiderate of you Troy. These three weeks of the freshman honours program could be the most important she spends at Stanford. It will be incredibly difficult for her to regain her professor's good opinion if she makes a poor impression this week because she's underprepared."

Troy just looked at her astonished.

"I believe Gabriella would have told me if she needed more time to study" he replied quietly hoping that he was right but not willing to let Taylor see his insecurity.

Taylor looked at him pityingly "Troy Gabriella loves you. Of course she's not going to tell you that you shouldn't have come" she said.

"Gabriella told me she was glad I came. She would have told me if she needed more time to study. She knew I brought stuff of my own to do" Troy said stubbornly.

"Are you sure she just didn't want to avoid hurting your feelings?" Taylor asked condescendingly.

Troy just frowned at her and walked off not wanting to start a fight with Gabriella's best female friend.

Troy tried to put the conversation with Taylor out of his mind but doubts kept coming back to him. Surely Gabriella wouldn't have lied when she told him she was glad he came. But she'd said she was up to date with her work when they spoke last night so why didn't she have time to talk to Taylor? Troy was almost glad that he had rehearsals during all his class breaks today so he didn't have time to dwell on it.

Troy waited anxiously for the Skype connection to go through.

Gabriella answered him with a smile but he could see books and notes laid out on the desk in front of her.

"Do you have time to talk?" He asked trying to sound casual.

"Yeah I can talk for a while" she said.

"Do you have much work still to do?"

Gabriella shrugged "I have a couple of things still to do but nothing that needs to be done tonight. I want to get done though because I have professor DuPont tomorrow and he gave us heaps of homework last time" she explained.

"Gabriella did me coming to stay with you put you behind with your school work?" Troy asked hesitantly.

"No of course it didn't. Why are you asking?" Gabriella asked surprised.

"Taylor was complaining that you haven't had time to talk to her" Troy explained.

Gabriella blushed.

" Gabriella?" Troy said questioningly.

"I lied to her Troy" Gabriella confessed. "I was waiting for you to call and she was complaining about Chad. I didn't want to be in the middle of their argument so I told her I had a heap of preparation to do for today."

Troy was so relieved that he couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not funny Troy. I shouldn't have done it" Gabriella said guiltily.

"Gabriella please don't feel guilty. You're right Taylor shouldn't try to put us in the middle of her problems with Chad. Especially when you're one thousand miles away and can't see what's actually going on" Troy said encouragingly. "And it's not as if you were totally lying, you do have a lot more study to do than you normally would."

"Yes but I had time to talk to her if I wanted to. It's just that every time we talk she goes on and on about hoe great an opportunity the freshman honours program is and how important it is that I do well and make a good impression. When she isn't lecturing me about that she's complaining about you and Chad" Gabriella paused not having intended to tell Troy that.

Troy sighed "don't worry it's not like I didn't know. She's either glaring at me or lecturing me every time I see her lately. I don't really know what the problem is"

"To be honest Troy part of the problem is that Yale has a freshman honours program like this too, and I know Taylor applied for it. She wasn't accepted. It irritates her that it would have meant so much to her to be accepted into a program like this and I wasn't even sure I wanted to do it" Gabriella tried to explain.

"And she blames me for that" Troy concluded.

"No Troy she's taking her frustration out on you and on Chad but it doesn't make it your fault and she knows that" Gabriella said quietly.

"So I should just ignore it and let her get over it herself?" Troy asked.

"Don't let her walk all over you Troy, but I'd say just stay out of her way, she'll calm down soon enough" Gabriella said encouragingly.

"Well that'll be easy enough. Darbus has us all rehearsing nonstop" Troy complained good-naturedly.

Gabriella laughed "And you love every minute of it."

"Well yeah we have fun. Kelsi and Ryan are great fun when Sharpay's not in a snit" Troy agreed.

"Is Sharpay behaving herself after Ms Darbus' lecture?" Gabriella asked.

"She's a bit better. She doesn't try to argue with Darbus or complain to her when she doesn't like something but she does try to get other people to agree with her point of view behind Darbus' back in the hope that they will ask for the changes she wants. And she's still pretty nasty to Kelsi" Troy complained more seriously this time.

"Kelsi's not afraid of Sharpay any more though. It takes a lot to upset her" Gabriella reminded him. "I know you're protective of her but wait to see if she really needs it before you pull out your overprotective big brother act. Kelsi needs to know she can stand up for herself. You won't be there next year."

"Yeah I know. She and Ryan seem pretty close these days. They're going to Prom together" Troy said.

Gabriella smiled "do you think they're going out?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. They act more like close friends than anything. We'll just have to wait and see how they act at Prom" Troy said thoughtfully.

"Yeah" Gabriella agreed though she was doubtful she would care about much other than spending time with Troy after a week apart.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

The rest of the week flew past with both of them so busy, Gabriella with assignments for her freshman honours classes and Troy with the Musicale. Before they knew it, it was Friday afternoon and Gabriella was on the plane back to Albuquerque.

Troy was waiting eagerly at the airport to pick up Gabriella on Friday afternoon. He'd had gym last period and had surprisingly managed to talk his father into letting him leave early. Fortunately Gabriella's flight arrived on time and Gabriella was one of the first off the plane anxious to see her husband again after the five and a half day separation.

She ran to Troy's arms with such force that he had to twirl her around to prevent her knocking them both to the floor.

"Oh God I've missed you" Gabriella said kissing him passionately.

"Not as much as I've missed you" Troy retorted. "Every person I've seen this week has asked me about you. How you were doing, whether you were still coming to prom, whether you'd been happy to see me last weekend, whether my visit had interfered with your studies" he complained.

"Let me guess the last two questions were from Taylor" Gabriella said frowning.

"Yeah she seemed really annoyed that I'd gone to visit you. Did you say something to her?" Troy asked trying casually hide the doubts Taylor had caused in spite of his conversation about her with Gabriella earlier in the week.

"No she rang me on Monday night and again Wednesday and asked the same things. It was like she expected me to be upset about you visiting" Gabriella said rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. "She went on and on about the importance of making new friends in college and how the fact I was dating a jock might give people the wrong impression. I was really thrilled that you came to visit. I don't know how I would have coped stuck in California for the weekend without you.

Lucille was still at work when they arrived home but Jack stood up when Gabriella entered the lounge and walked across to give her a hug. "It's good to have you home Gabriella. It doesn't feel the same without you" he said smiling at his daughter-in-law.

"I miss you and Lucille too. It was wonderful to have Troy come up last week. I was missing everyone so much I nearly wanted to just quit and come home" Gabriella admitted.

"You say that but I know you never would" Jack said.

"No apart from the fact Mom would have killed me, I like to finish whatever I start" Gabriella agreed. "But it was really hard being away from everybody."

"Well I'm headed to the hardware store, do you need anything while I'm out?" Jack asked giving Gabriella another hug.

"No thanks Jack I think I have everything for the weekend" Gabriella said yawning. "I think I might lie down for a while before we go out tonight."

Jack left the house grinning to himself and resoling to take his time, maybe he should go back to school and get some paperwork done.

Troy followed Gabriella up the stairs and stripped off his clothes before sliding into bed spooning up behindand wrapping his arms around her.

Gabriella turned to kiss him.

Troy gently returned the kiss but prevented her from going further. "No sleep Gabriella, we have a long night ahead of us" he murmured.

"But I missed you" Gabriella whined.

"I missed you too but we have all weekend. You'll feel better if you nap or a while" Troy said trying to be the voice of reason while his hormones were screaming at him to just shut up and make love to her.

Gabriella sighed but soon drifted off to sleep while Troy just lay there enjoying the feel of having her home with him.

"I suppose I'd better start getting ready" Gabriella said about an hour later as she lay in Troy's arms on their bed.

"We don't have to go if you're too tired" Troy offered hearing the fatigue in Gabriella's voice.

"No I've been looking forward to it. I'll be fine Troy once I'm up and going" Gabriella said firmly climbing out of bed.

"Are you really going to get ready in the other room" Troy grumbled. His parents had given their spare bedroom over to Gabriella to use for the times she needed a little privacy but Gabriella mostly used it to store some of her things that she wanted to have available but didn't easily fit into the room she shared with Troy.

"I want to surprise you. I'll text you when I'm ready for you to wait for me downstairs. If I hadn't been away for the last two weeks I might have arranged to get ready at Taylor's so you could pick me up properly" Gabriella said hoping Troy wouldn't be upset at the idea.

Troy laughed "Alright I'll shower downstairs so you can have free run of the bathroom as well" he agreed.

An hour later Troy was sitting downstairs watching a rerun basketball game on TV with his father waiting eagerly for Gabriella. His Mom was hovering with the camera knowing that Troy would have little patience for solo photos but would happily pose for however many shots she wanted to take with Gabriella. Eventually his phone chimed and he read the text. "I'm ready."

Troy smiled and text back "I'm downstairs waiting for you love" and moved to stand where he could see the stairs.

Jack and Lucille followed smiling.

Gabriella slowly descended the stairs dressed in a short floating flowery cream dress.

"Wow you look gorgeous" Troy said with an expression of awe and love.

Gabriella smiled happily and hurried down to join him. "You look handsome yourself" she said taking his hand.

Lucille started snapping photos of the two of them and Troy wrapped one arm around Gabriella as they turned to smile at the camera.

Lucille took what felt like dozens of photos but Troy and Gabriella cooperated patiently knowing that it was especially important to her because she had not been able to attend their wedding and though she had a professional portrait taken by the minister's wife she missed having all the normal imperfect casual snapshots that showed their real personalities.

"It is such a pity Maria couldn't be here" Lucille said quietly to her husband, not intending Gabriella to hear.

"Mom will be here in two weeks for graduation" Gabriella said. "I talked to her on Skype just before I came downstairs."

Lucille hugged Gabriella hoping she hadn't upset her daughter-in-law. "I expect she's regretting not being able to be here tonight all the same. I'll send her some of these photos as soon as you go."

"Thanks Lucille. I'm sure she will love that. I know she would have wanted to be here if she could but she can only come for a couple of days and she's right Graduation will mean more to her and I'll get to see more of her then than if she'd come this weekend" Gabriella said smiling softly.

"Enough of this, you two go on and enjoy the evening" Jack interrupted gruffly.

Gabriella hugged him "Thanks Jack, are you one of the supervisors?" she asked seeing that he was dressed in slacks and a sports jacket.

"Yes I have the second shift from 9.30until midnight. I'll try not to be too obtrusive" Jack replied glancing at his son whom he was well aware disliked the idea of having his father supervise evening activities unless they were basketball related.

"It's fine Dad. It won't be us trying to sneak into hidden corners to behave inappropriately And I don't have anything to spike the drinks with" Troy said smirking.

Jack groaned remembering the complaints he'd voiced the morning after the Senior Prom in previous years.

"Make sure it isn't I won't let the fact you are my son or the fact you're married stop me from hauling in your ass and calling your mother to come get you" Jack warned them.

Troy laughed "Message understood" he said ushering Gabriella out the door.

"The others are going to laugh at us turning up in your truck" Gabriella commented teasingly.

"Yeah Sharpay was on about hiring a stretch limo for Zeke to come and pick her up in" Troy replied calmly. "I did think about it but after seeing our apartment last week I decided that it would be better to save the money to buy a couch or something. Besides if my truck was good enough for our wedding day then it's good enough for prom."

"You're right of course" Gabriella smiled.

"Are you sure I could borrow Mom's car if you'd prefer?" Troy asked anxiously second guessing himself.

"No Troy you love this truck and we have lots of great memories in her. Let her take us to the Prom" Gabriella said hugging him.

Troy grinned, everything Gabriella said was true but more than that she didn't feel he was being a bad prom date by not spending money on a limo and driver or hiring a fancy car.

They arrived at the school and parked near the gym, Troy ran around to open the door for Gabriella and help her down so she didn't stumble in her heels and they made their way into the gym.

Kelsi and Ryan were standing near the entrance and came over to greet them as they came through the door both sweeping Gabriella into huge hugs. "We've missed you so much" Kelsi exclaimed.

"I've missed you all too" Gabriella sad returning the hugs. "Troy tells me rehearsals are going well, I can't wait to see the show."

"Yes things are going well now that Darbus has finally wised up to Sharpay's manipulations and stopped her from throwing half a dozen tantrums a day" Kelsi said before glancing apologetically at her date. "Oh sorry Ryan."

Ryan grinned self consciously and said "Don't hold back the truth on my account. We all know she was impossible to work with before this week."

Gabriella smiled supportively. "Troy said you both were doing a pretty good job of not giving in to her every time"

"Hence the tantrums" Ryan replied sighing.

Gabriella laughed "Don't worry Ryan, chances are this is the last production you'll have to do together and after Sharpay any of the diva's at college will be a piece of cake" she said encouragingly.

"Yeah it's hard to believe that we won't e at school together next year" he said.

"You still could be though' Jason butted in having heard the last few statements.

"Actually no! The only place we both applied was Juilliard and the chances of both of us making it there are extremely slim" Ryan replied.

"You didn't apply to go to U of A?" Troy asked surprised.

Ryan blushed "No I wanted to be on my own. Somewhere I can be known as Ryan Evans not just Sharpay's brother" he admitted.

"You know you're Ryan to all of us" Gabriella said placing her hand on his biceps.

"Yeah man it's more that we put up with Sharpay because she's your sister" Jason stated.

Martha slapped him lightly across the back of the head. "Crudely put but basically true" she said. "You're always Ryan to us and we will miss you next year."

"That's right, it may have taken me longer than Gabriella to get to know you but you're a true friend Ryan Evans" Troy added. "And I honestly think you'll be far more successful than Sharpay."

"Troy right Ryan you're a gifted performer and choreographer" Kelsi said encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll do great wherever you end up going to school."

"Thanks guys, this past year having you all as my friends has been so wonderful" Ryan replied emotionally.

"They're starting to serve dinner we're gonna miss out" Jason stated earning himself another swat to the head this time from Gabriella as well as Martha but Ryan jumped on the chance to close the conversation.

"Let's go in I'm starving" he lied.

A/N: Sorry about the delay. I'm also going to apologise if this turns out nothing like a prom. As an Australian not only did I never go to a prom, nobody I know did either.

A/N2: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA, FanfREAK1,Lizardkingsgirl, speedsONEandONLY and the 3 anonymous guests who reviewed for your support.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy checked the seating chart to find they had been seated at a table with Chad and Taylor, Martha and Jason, and the other members of the scholastic decathlon. He groaned realising that this was probably Taylor's doing.

"Looks like we're playing referee tonight" Troy said gesturing to Chad and Taylor in the corner clearly trying to have an argument without drawing attention to themselves.

"Oh dear" Gabriella said sighing. "I expect my very attentive date to rescue me with frequent invitations to dance and not disappear to hang out with the boys" she added staring Troy in the eyes.

"I have no plans to leave your side all night long my love" Troy said flirtatiously and wrapped an arm around her waist as the moved through the room greeting friends. Troy let Gabriella take the lead in deciding who they stopped and spoke with and when they moved on knowing that Gabriella had missed her friends and irrational as it was had feared losing friendships by leaving East High to accept the freshman honours program. Having so many people come over to greet her and update her on gossip and projects she'd been involved with, asking her advice on a couple of last minute issues that had come up with the final layout for the yearbook which was due to go to the printers on Monday eased her fears.

They finally reached their seats. Jason must have been exaggerating about dinner being served because the servers were just delivering the entrees to their table as they sat down. Taylor gave Troy a dirty look "It's about time you two got here. I was beginning to worry you'd got lost" she said snarkily as Troy held Gabriella's chair for her to sit.

"We got sidetracked talking to everyone" Gabriella answered for Troy hoping to avoid an argument between the two.

"Yeah it seems everyone couldn't wait to say hello and ask Gabriella about Stanford" Troy said cheerfully. "you look lovely Taylor" he added.

"Thank you Troy. You and Gabriella look great too"

Troy smiled glad to hear her put them together.

Troy turned his attention to the entrees happy with his, "Is yours good?" he asked Gabriella realising that every second person had the other selection.

"Yes it is" Gabriella smiled knowing that if she hadn't said she liked it Troy would have offered to swap.

As they finished their entree Taylor was called up to speak as president of the prom committee

"Hey everyone thanks for coming tonight" she began. "Now I don't want to interrupt your fun but I do have a couple of announcements. Voting for Prom King and Queen will close as soon as the dessert course is served so if you haven't voted yet please do so as soon as possible to give our committee time to count the votes. Principle Matsui asked me to remind you that anyone found behaving inappropriately or in possession of alcohol will have their parents rung to come and collect them immediately. Have a great night." She sat down to polite applause.

"You need to vote" Troy reminded Gabriella. Voting had opened the Monday she started the freshman honour program.

"I don't know who to vote for, who's likely to win?"

"Well Liana's been campaigning for Queen but you and most of the other cheerleaders are also in the running. Taylor's counted the early votes and Chad says she told him I'm likely to win Prom King but she wouldn't say who was likely to win Queen."

"So should I vote for Natalie?" Gabriella asked indicating one of the few cheerleaders who hadn't given her a hard time over her relationship with Troy.

"Vote for yourself Gabriella I want to spend the evening with you not some cheerleader" Troy replied laughing.

"I don't have any chance of winning" Gabriella protested.

"Don't you believe it. Taylor was complaining this afternoon that so many people were leaving their votes until the last minute. Much more than previous years she said. And then did you see what happened when we walked in. All of a sudden there was this huge rush of people trying to cast their votes."

Gabriella frowned thoughtfully "I didn't notice" she said.

"Please vote for yourself" Troy asked her. "Believe me you have as much chance of winning as anyone."

"Well okay I'll vote the way you've asked me to. I don't want you having to spend half the evening with someone else either" Gabriella agreed and they walked across so Gabriella could cast her vote. "Have you voted?" she asked.

"Yeah the day voting opened I voted for you" Troy said grinning.

Gabriella smiled and they returned to their seats for the main course.

Troy and Chad quietly ate their meals hoping not to draw attention to themselves while Taylor interrogated Gabriella about the freshman honours program. She wanted all the details of the classes and study assignments and the faculty and other students in the program, she had apparently researched them on line as her questions were based on information even Troy did not have and he'd met most of the students she was talking about as well as looking up all their bios on the Freshman Honours Program webpage.

Eventually Gabriella managed to finish her meal in spite of the questioning and Troy dragged her up to dance.

"Thanks for the rescue" Gabriella said smiling.

"How'd she find out all that stuff?" Troy asked.

"She must have looked up the website I showed you and then done an individual search on each of the participants and their high schools" Gabriella explained. "It's almost scary. She knew more about Casey than I did and I've been living with her for the last two weeks."

"Why do you think she's done all this research?"

"Partly to be able to share the experience with me so she'd know about my new friends. I think she's a little worried that she'll be left behind, she's feeling insecure because she didn't get into any of the programs she's applied to."

"So you're saying she's worried that now you have all these new friends at Stanford you're not going to want to hang around with her. That's stupid, you always hang around with all of us and we know that academically Taylor and maybe Martha are the only ones anywhere near your level" Troy asked confused.

"Yeah it makes about as much sense as when I was worried that my friends would all forget about me if I left to do the honours program. That's the thing about fears Troy they don't have to be rational" Gabriella reminded him.

"Yeah but she's pushing us all away with her attitude. I've been avoiding her because every time I've seen her this week she's started nagging me about how I'm holding you back and limiting your future. She's fighting with Chad over anything and everything. I even heard her having a go at Martha" Troy complained.

"I'll try and talk with her but not tonight" Gabriella promised.

The music stopped and Taylor stood on the makeshift stage with the microphone. "ey every one I hope you're all having a great night. Dessert is now being served and voting for Prom King and Queen has now closed. If those people who volunteered to assist with the final counting can please meet me in Coach Bolton's office we will have results for you after dessert."

Martha and another girl Troy recognised from the science club but couldn't remember the name of headed towards Taylor while everyone else headed back towards their tables.

Troy looked around amused as her watched Gabriella savour her dessert while the other prom queen hopefuls nervously played with theirs. 'They are wasting good chocolate tart' he thought. He leaned over and called teasingly across the tables "Hey Zeke do you think you could get the recipe for this it's fantastic man."

Zeke shrugged and reached across to steal a bite of the tart from Sharpay. "Yeah it's good" he agreed reaching for another bite and yelling as Sharpay stabbed him with her fork.

At the end of dessert Taylor, Martha and the girl Troy still couldn't remember the name of came back and Taylor headed for the microphone.

"Hey everyone, sorry it took so long but we had a record number of last minute votes this year. Thank you everyone that voted and thank you to the people that campaigned over the last week. Thanks especially to Martha and Rachel who helped count the votes. Okay second runner up goes to Liana and Ethan" Taylor paused for the applause as the head cheerleader and the captain of the football team came up to collect their prize neither doing a very good job of pretending to look happy or honoured.

"First runner up goes to Natalie and Chad."

Chad whooped and cheered his way on stage where he gave Taylor a big hug twirling her around. Natalie collected her prize smiling happily.

"And this year's prom king and queen are Troy and Gabriella Bolton." Taylor announced excitedly.

Gabriella squeezed Troy's hand as they stepped forward and he smiled at her reassuringly knowing she hated being the centre of attention. He bent down for Taylor to put the crown on his head grimacing at the feel of it. "How's this stupid thing supposed to stay on?" He asked quietly.

"Quit bitching and be grateful that you're up here with Gabriella" Taylor replied smiling at him.

"Believe me I am" Troy said smiling at his wife's best-friend.

Gabriella smiled as Taylor placed the tiara on her head. "You really didn't expect to win did you?" She teased.

"Of course not" Gabriella replied confused by the comment.

"You're the only girl even remotely in the running that didn't choose a hairstyle that would go with the tiara" Taylor explained laughing.

Gabriella laughed "it never even occurred to me" she admitted. "I've never been to a school dance before."

"I should have realised when there were so few votes during the week. Everyone was waiting to see if you we're actually coming, nearly every vote cast tonight was for you and Troy" Taylor said ruefully.

"I can't believe so many people voted for me but I'm glad that Troy and Liana didn't win. She would have been all over him for the rest of the night" Gabriella said. "I would have hated to have to watch that."

Taylor laughed "Troy wouldn't have let that happen" she said reassuringly.

"But he would have had to dance with her?"

"Yes and no doubt she would have made an exhibition of herself trying to plaster herself all over him. Chad and Jason had a bet whether Troy would end up pushing her away hard enough to make her fall over" Taylor said snarkily.

Gabriella laughed "I'm still glad I didn't have to watch that" she said.

"Well the rest of us might have enjoyed seeing her taken down a peg or two. She's been carrying on like she was about to be crowned Miss Universe all week" Taylor said. "the look on her face when we announced she was only second runner up was priceless. Hopefully Chad got a photo of it for me for the yearbook."

"Isn't it too late?"

"No they're holding a couple of pages over to cover the prom. I could use your help tomorrow or Sunday to put them together" Taylor said hopefully.

"Sure. Are you asking for photos or just relying on Chad and the official photographer?" Gabriella asked amused at what the pages would look like if they used all of Chad's quirky photo's.

"Martha's got her camera tonight too and she's coming over tomorrow at three. She refused to come any earlier" Taylor said grumpily.

"You can't blame her. The after party will probably last most of the night from what I've heard Ryan and Sharpay planning"

"Are you really going to go. I think Troy might have other plans" Taylor said quietly "Sorry to interrupt but can we get this over with I'm sick of standing here being gawked at" Troy complained not mentioning that his real problem was Liana's flirting.

"I can't believe I forgot everyone was watching us" Gabriella exclaimed.

"What song do you want to dance to?" Taylor asked.

"Michael Jackson's 'I just can't stop loving you'" Gabriella suggested.

"No this" Troy said pulling a disk out of his jacket pocket.

Troy and Gabriella danced slowly to the sound of the original version of 'You are the music in me' careful to keep a respectable distance between them while everyone was watching. Soon though the dance floor was crowded and Troy pulled Gabriella closer and she rested her head against his shoulder.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Ceciliaa93, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA, speedsONEandONLY, DiNozzoDavidRules, zanessa1212,dyeitrouge, hockeyhun01, Lica, Twin0193, and Natalie for your support.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Jack smiled as he arrived Troy and Gabriella were still dancing and Gabriella had her eyes closed as Troy held her protectively. He took a careful sip of the punch checking it was still non-alcoholic as it should be and spoke to the other teacher on duty agreeing to take the outside patrols to be as unobtrusive as possible for Troy who hadn't yet noticed his entrance.

On the whole this class were pretty good kids and he wasn't expecting any major problems but someone always got a bit carried away.

Gabriella smiled as she saw Jack slip back out the door, she didn't point him out to Troy knowing that even as well as the two of them got along most of the time Troy would prefer that his father hadn't been on duty tonight. Ghe lifted her face and kissed him lightly smiling. Troy had kept his word and they'd been on the dance floor almost the entire time since they'd been crowned King and Queen. Both had had difficulties keeping their crowns in place but Gabriella had persuaded Troy that people would be upset with them if they didn't try to wear them.

As the night drew to a close everyone started discussing which after parties they wanted to attend. Troy had talked his parents out of offering to host a party using the argument that Gabriella may be tired after a busy week at Stanford and not want to spend all night out partying. Sharpay was hosting a party, well officially Sharpay and Ryan but Ryan had already confided in them that his sister had not let him have any input into the party and that he wouldn't be offended if they chose to go elsewhere. Liana was also hosting a party for the cheerleaders and athletes including the Basketball team and there were a couple of others hosted by people they didn't know well which as the most popular couple in the school they would be welcome to attend.

"I think Ryan and Sharpay's party sound the best" Gabriella suggested. "Ryan and Kelsi will definitely be there and Zeke and Jason and Martha."

"I wouldn't mind cruising around and stopping at Liana's as well" Chad said knowing that Liana's party was more likely to have alcohol and that Liana's parents were out of town for the weekend.

Troy pulled a face. "I'm not going anywhere near Liana's party. I've had more than enough of her flirting for one night and I don't like the way she treats Gabriella" he stated not committing to going to any after party.

"Yes I'm not interested in going to Liana's either" Taylor agreed with Troy. "Sharpay's party sounds like fun."

"Do you want to go to the after-party?" Troy asked Gabriella quietly as they moved away from the others.

Gabriella shrugged "I really want some time alone with you but you're Dad's still awake and there will be increased security patrols around tonight because of the prom not to mention I don't know how many other couples looking for privacy. Besides this is the only prom after-party we will ever go to. I think we should go for a little while at least."

Troy laughed at Gabriella's logic. "Okay then" he agreed, "but I want you to tell me when you're ready to go home. I know you're tired" he said as he opened the passenger door of his truck for her and lifted her in so she didn't have to try to climb in her dress as he'd done earlier in the evening.

"What about you? You haven't been sleeping well either" Gabriella retorted smartly. "And you're the one driving."

"I'm good for a while yet" Troy reassured her. "I'll let you know if I'm getting tired. Ryan might give us a room to crash in" he added hopefully.

Gabriella blushed and Troy started the truck to head towards the Evans house.

"I can't believe Troy brought you to prom in that noisy, filthy, old rust bucket. You're lucky it didn't break down on the way" Taylor said as she and Chad met up with them at the Evan's front door.

"I like riding in Troy's truck. I'm kind of going to miss it next year when he gets a proper car" Gabriella said mildly.

"You're getting rid of your truck?" Chad asked incredulously.

"No just leaving it here in Albuquerque. I'll need something more reliable to drive back and forwards to college and I won't have time to spend fixing it every few weeks" Troy said calmly. He's come to terms with the fact that taking his beloved truck to California wouldn't be realistic. "Dad's offered to keep it running so we'll have transport when we come home for holidays."

"What sort of car are you going to get" Chad asked enthusiastically.

Troy shrugged "something cheap and more economical to run for one thing" he said. "We need to buy Gabriella a car as well. The public transport from Hayward to Stanford isn't the best."

"But Gabster can't drive" Chad exclaimed.

"She can a bit, Dad's been teaching her she's nearly ready to go for her licence" Troy replied.

Ryan opened the door for them "Come on in. Sorry about the wait, I needed to help set up the entertainment"

"I would have thought you'd have done that this afternoon" Taylor said critically.

Ryan threw his hands in the air and gave an exaggerated shrug. "We did but Sharpay changed her mind about where things should go" he admitted.

Gabriella smiled sympathetically "well at least everyone is here to distract her now" she said encouragingly. "You should be able to get away and enjoy yourself, Where's Kelsi?"

They entered the lounge area and Ryan looked around anxiously, "Over there in need of rescuing" he said before hurrying across to his date.

The feel of the party was far more casual than the ball thought many of the guests were still formally dressed others had changed into jeans and casual wear, a few brave souls had even changed into swimwear and were splashing about in the spa though the pool itself was far too cold.

Troy and Gabriella mingled having short conversations with friends they hadn't managed to catch up with earlier in the night.

Sharpay had set up a stage area and karaoke system and was forcing people up to sing. Strangely she never approached anyone while they were talking to or standing with Troy or Gabriella.

"You think she doesn't want us to sing tonight?" Gabriella asked amusedly.

"We should go over there and see what she does" Troy suggested smiling wickedly.

"Troy" Gabriella protested half heartedly as she let him take her hand and lead her towards the stage area.

Sharpay frowned as she saw the couple approach but knew that she couldn't stop them from singing without making a scene.

Troy grinned when he saw Sharpay's conflicted expression and turned to Gabriella. "Should we sing 'I just can't stop loving you'?" He asked.

"Do you really want to sing or are you just trying to annoy Sharpay?" Gabriella asked quietly.

"I admit that I enjoy annoying Sharpay" Troy said smiling. "But I do love singing with you especially casually like this where most people are too busy doing their own thing to pay much attention to us." He kissed her lightly.

"Well let's go give Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett a run for their money" Gabriella replied laughing happily as they walked over to the karaoke machine to set up their choice of song.

Their singing was slightly less perfectly rehearsed than it had been at the pizzeria the week before but the emotional depth of their feelings for each other were even more evident.

The room was totally silent as they finished the song with a passionate kiss and walked off the stage. Without discussing it Troy led Gabriella to his truck and lifted her into the passenger seat buckling her seatbelt for her before hurrying around to climb in the driver's seat and drive off before someone came to stop them.

Troy was tempted to park somewhere but after seeing a police patrol and two security cars cruising around headed home.

He carefully lifted Gabriella out of the truck and set her on her feet. "Shh" he said "I don't want to wake up Mom and Dad."

"Do you want to go and sit in the tree house and talk for a while?" Gabriella offered.

Troy really wanted to accept but he could already see goosebumps forming across Gabriella's skin. "It's too cold out here" he said hurrying into the house. "You'll freeze in that dress."

Gabriella couldn't argue with that, she was glad to enter the warmth of the house.

"Let's just go upstairs I want to hold you" Troy suggested.

Troy took a quick shower to give Gabriella privacy to change for bed and then waited impatiently while she pottered around the bathroom taking off her makeup and brushing the product out of her hair.

"Hey Troy what happened to the crowns?" she asked realising that they'd gone missing at some stage during the evening.

Troy gestured to his desktop "I guess Dad must have brought them home for us" he said smiling.

"I must remember to thank him in the morning" Gabriella replied.

"Come to bed" Troy said lifting the sheet for her to slide in next to him.

Gabriella climbed in and wrapped herself around him. They kissed languidly for a while but Gabriella truly was exhausted and lying in a warm bed safe in Troy's embrace soon had its effect and she was half asleep. Troy hadn't slept well without her home either and was happy just to sleep with his wife in his arms.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, CimorelliMIA, wildcats2016, speedsONEandONLY, bzz and Natalie for your support.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy decided not to run the next morning and surprisingly even though he'd forgotten to tell his father they weren't disturbed until nearly nine o'clock when Lucille knocked softly.

"Come in" Troy called quietly hoping not to wake Gabriella who was still sleeping soundly.

Lucille stuck her head around the door "Morning Troy did you have fun last night?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yeah we did" Troy said smiling.

"I'm heading to work I should be home around one and if you're looking for your father he's at school supervising the cleanup of the gym" Lucille reported fully aware the she was telling her teenage son that the house was going to be empty and that they wouldn't be overheard for the next several hours.

"Thanks Mom" Troy said understanding the hidden message. "Have a good morning at work, are you running open houses?" he asked knowing it was his mother's least favourite part of her job unless she'd decorated the house in question and wanted to get feedback on it.

"Only one, the house I did over on Elm Street, then I'm meeting a new client who wants their house restyled for sale then I have a lunch meeting with one of our biggest rental property owners to discuss which of their property's would best benefit from upgrades or cosmetic changes" Lucille explained. "I would have liked more time off while Gabriella's home" she added apologetically.

"Don't worry Mom I'm sure Gabriella understands, she's going over to Taylor's this afternoon to help finish off the yearbook but we should be home for dinner" Troy replied.

Lucille quietly closed the door and as Troy heard her walking downstairs Gabriella lifted her head. "Morning Troy" she said grinning.

"How long have you been awake?" Troy asked kissing her chastely.

"I was just drifting when I heard Lucille knocking but she would have been upset if she thought she'd woken me up" Gabriella explained. "You didn't get up to run?"

"Too comfortable" Troy said dismissively.

"I guess that means you have some energy to work off" Gabriella said suggestively.  
"I always have energy for whatever you want me to do" Troy flirted.

"Well I'd better find a use for all that energy" Gabriella flirted back rolling on top of him and lowering her head to kiss him passionately. Troy ran his hands down Gabriella's back and then back up pushing up her night shirt, breaking the kiss just long enough to pull it over her head.

Troy then took control of the kiss and rolled them over so that he was on top and could reach the drawers. He pulled out the box of condoms and tipped them out for easy reach later. "I'll have to go buy some more next week" he said.

Gabriella looked at the three little foil packets "Oh no Troy you're going to need to buy some more this afternoon while I'm at Taylor's" she said with a wicked grin before flipping them both over again. She stood up quickly to remove her panties and tore open one of the foil packets efficiently rolling its contents into place before straddling Troy and sinking down onto him.

Troy's eyes almost rolled back in pleasure as he fought to control himself long enough to give Gabriella time to adjust.

Gabriella started moving herself up and down on his shaft and Troy's hands moved to hold her hips to help her maintain her balance. "Let go for me Troy" Gabriella encouraged him. "We can do slow and gentle later I need to feel you now."

Troy looked into her eyes "Are you sure?" he asked "I don't want to hurt you."

"I'm sure Troy. Fuck me hard. I've missed the feel of you inside me" Gabriella said almost bouncing on top of him.

The uncharacteristically dirty talk drove Troy wild and before long he was pulling her downwards as he thrust upwards as hard and fast as he could in the position they were in.

Troy came explosively as Gabriella's inner walls started convulsing around him. It was lucky no one else was home because Gabriella would have died of embarrassment if she thought anyone else had heard the scream she let loose as her body was hit by one of the most intense orgasms she'd ever experienced. She collapsed on top of Troy panting.

Troy felt himself softening inside her and reached down to ensure the condom came out cleanly before wrapping his arms around Gabriella and watching her drift off to sleep.

Gabriella didn't sleep long and as soon as Troy could feel her starting to wake he moved his hands to gently massage her bum, kissing her neck.

Gabriella squirmed against him angling her neck to give him better access. "I won't always appreciate being woken up like this" she warned him.

"I know but you'd have been disappointed if I'd let you sleep all morning" Troy retorted.

"Hmm you're right" Gabriella agreed. "I believe we had plans"

Troy rolled them over and slowly started kissing his way down her body. He massaged her breasts rubbing his thumbs over her nipples making her gasp as desire began to build. He lowered his head and suckled making Gabriella arch her back and moan.

She whimpered in disappointment when his mouth left her breast only to moan again as he kissed the crease under her other breast. He circled her nipple, chuckling when she moved to force it against his lips. He flicked his tongue over it and blew gently making Gabriella shiver.

Gabriella stopped him as he went to move lower, pulling him up into a passionate kiss. "I need you now" she said.

Troy grabbed a condom and rolled it on before lining himself up and entering her slowly. He held himself still with his weight held up on his arms watching the expressions on her face as he slowly rocked his hips.

Gabriella looked up into his eyes seeing the love and desire he had for her.

"I love you" she said honestly.

"I love you Gabriella" Troy replied. He kept the pace slow for as long as he could sweat running down his body from the strain until Gabriella started to thrust against him begging him to go faster and harder.

Gabriella wrapped her legs further up Troy's back to allow him to penetrate deeper. Troy's thrusts became erratic.

"Oh God don't stop" Gabriella moaned.

"If I don't slow down for a minute I'm gonna come" Troy warned her. "Are you close?" he asked sliding one hand between them to finger her clitoris.

Gabriella maned louder and began to convulse around him sending both of them over the edge.

Troy collapsed careful to fall sidewards so he wouldn't crush Gabriella. He lay on his back beside her with one arm wrapped around her waist.

"Wow" Gabriella panted.

"So much for slow and gentle" Troy chuckling slightly.

Gabriella laughed breathlessly. "It was perfect" she insisted tiredly.

She cuddled up to Troy while she caught her breath. "Troy?" she said raising her head to look at him "Do you.." she broke off and smiled realising that he'd fallen asleep. Deciding not to wake him she laid her head back on his shoulder and drifted off herself.

Troy and Gabriella were woken by the sound of Jack returning home and cheerfully banging around in the kitchen as he fixed himself some lunch.

"Join me in the shower?" Troy asked hopefully.

"Your Dad's home" Gabriella replied doubtfully.

"Come on, it's just a shower" Troy encouraged. "Dad won't care."

"Okay but you have to promise to behave" Gabriella said looking at him firmly.

Troy nodded his agreement and wrapped a towel quickly around him hurrying to the bathroom while Gabriella put on her dressing gown and collected her things. After a few minutes Troy returned to the bedroom and wrapped Gabriella in a hug. "It's okay if you've changed your mind" he said quietly. "Do you want the first shower?"

"No I'm coming" she said handing him her toiletry bag.

"Are you sure Gabriella? I didn't mean to pressure you" he said contritely.

"It's fine Troy. I just packed all my stuff. Give me a minute to gather everything I need" she replied. "Go and run the water and I'll join you."

True to her word Gabriella joined him as soon as he had the water hot enough. She stepped in behind him and started washing his shoulders and back.

Troy stood still for a moment enjoying her ministrations before turning to hug her. "I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too Wildcat but I meant what I said. No sex in the shower while your Dad's home" Gabriella said smiling at Troy so he would know she wasn't upset with him.

"I know. I just want to spend every possible moment with you. I miss you so much when you're away" Troy said huskily.

Gabriella tightened her hug "I miss you too Troy. More than I can say"

"Does this mean you'll be coming to Taylor's with me?" she asked teasingly.

"I will if you want me to but I think you'd be better off just the two of you. Taylor and I aren't getting along very well at the moment. She's not happy and I think she could use some time to talk things through, she won't open up to you if I'm there" Troy said sincerely causing Gabriella to frown with worry for her friend. "Besides you wanted me to go shopping" Troy added trying to lighten the mood. He carefully shampooed Gabriella's hair massaging her scalp the way he knew she loved.

Gabriella moaned softly "Don't think you can change my mind" she said playfully.

"I'm not Gabriella. I'm just washing your hair. Close your eyes I'm going to rinse" he warned pulling her under the spray.

A short while later Troy made his way down to the kitchen to start making brunch while Gabriella finished getting dressed and ready for the day. He groaned at the state he saw his father had left the kitchen in knowing that if his Mom arrived home to see him in the kitchen he would be blamed for the mess. He quickly made the pancake batter and started cleaning up while the first batch cooked.

Gabriella came down and helped pour them both some juice and set the table bringing Jack's dirty dishes to the sink.

Drawn by the smell of pancakes cooking, Jack watched guiltily as his son and daughter in law cleaned up. "I'll do the dishes if you save me some of those pancakes" he offered.

Troy grinned "You should do the dishes anyway" he retorted. "You're lucky Mom didn't come home before we cleaned up."

Jack chuckled "Thanks for saving me from her scolding" he agreed. "What plans do the two of you have for today?"

"I agreed to go over and help Taylor with the final pages of the yearbook" Gabriella replied.

"I have some stuff to do while Gabriella's out "I might go and help for a bit later though" Troy said evasively.

"I want a chance to talk to Taylor on my own first" Gabriella said to him. "I'll send you a message if I want you to come help."

"You mean if the coast is clear" Troy said wryly.

Gabriella laughed "Of course" she agreed. "I'm not going to let her be mean to you" she teased.

Troy stuck out his tongue and Jack laughed at the two of them.

"I have some yard work needs doing if you're at a loose end" he said mildly letting Troy know he wasn't actually being ordered to help. "I better get back to it" he grumbled getting up and heading towards the door.

"Don't forget the dishes I'm not having Mom yell at me for not doing them when you promised" Troy called out.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Ceciliaa93, Kiara, Wildcats2016, CimorelliMIA, philipno2, lalachica94 and guest for your support.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Gabriella knocked on Taylor's door with mixed feelings. She was worried about her friend who obviously wasn't coping well with not receiving an offer for early entry or an honours program she'd so desperately wanted and whose relationship seemed to be falling apart. On the other hand she was upset with the way Taylor had been treating her husband and her friends.

Taylor answered the door and led Gabriella into the dining room where Martha and Chad were choosing photos to include.

"We've narrowed it down to about thirty photos" Martha reported. "How many pages do we have?"

"Two double pages, so we need between fifteen to twenty photos" Taylor replied.

"What else do we have to include? Has anyone written anything?" Gabriella asked.

"I have a couple of tickets if we want to use them" Martha offered. We could use them on one of the pages instead of a title."

"Will they fit?" Taylor asked. "We'd have to cut a photo for them."

"We need space for a title anyway and we could scan them and shrink them a bit if we need to" Gabriella suggested.

"They'd look better if you used the actual tickets" Chad commented.

"Okay then we have to cut some photo's lets go through them and see which ones would go together" Taylor suggested.

Finally the ruthless cuts were made and the layout agreed on. Gabriella was a little embarrassed by the large photo of herself and Troy being crowned as well as the group shot of their friends when so many other people had not got a photo into the page at all. "Do you think people will think we're playing favourites" she asked hesitantly.

"No you're the king and Queen of the prom everybody will expect to see that, and we've done a better job of including almost everyone than most of the previous years have" Taylor reassured her.

"Well that's that finished then. I'll get it approved on Monday and they can get it to the printers" Taylor said gratefully packing up their work.

"I'll be going then. I'll see you at school on Monday" she said to Taylor before giving Gabriella a quick hug. "It was good to see you. Best of luck next week at Stanford I'll see you at graduation."

"Bye Martha it was good to see you too. You and the rest of the prom committee did a great job" Gabriella replied.

"Can you stay for a while" Taylor asked Gabriella diffidently.

"Yes Troy's probably been roped into helping Jack with the yard work" Gabriella said willing to give her friend a chance.

"I'm gonna go rescue Troy" Chad blurted hurrying to leave.

Gabriella laughed "I'm sure he'll appreciate it" she said encouragingly knowing that Taylor was more likely to talk openly if it was just the two of them.

"Did you have fun last night? I barely got to talk to you" Gabriella started the conversation.

"Yes Troy had you rather monopolized" Taylor said snarkily.

"It had been difficult for us both to be apart for a whole week" Gabriella rebuked mildly. "And you were quite busy with Prom committee and yearbook duties as well as dancing with Chad."

"Yes. I was disappointed that you changed your mind about coming over here to get ready" Taylor admitted.

Gabriella laughed slightly "I really didn't spend much time getting ready at all. I haven't been sleeping well and Troy encouraged me to take a nap. He didn't wake me until about an hour before we arrived."

"He only gave you an hour to get ready for prom?" Taylor asked scandalized. "That's very inconsiderate didn't he understand what you needed to do."

"He was right though that I needed the sleep more than a manicure and pedicure" Gabriella retorted. "I was exhausted. If he hadn't make me nap I wouldn't have got through the evening."

"Why aren't you sleeping? Are the dorms that noisy all night?"

"No I just don't feel as safe sleeping on my own. I slept fine when Troy was there last weekend"

"He was very selfish to come and distract you from your studies like that. These three weeks will establish your reputation with the professors and other students. I hope he didn't mess things up too much."

"He didn't interrupt my studies at all. I didn't miss a single minute of class and he was very considerate about letting me have plenty of time to prep. I was delighted that Troy came all the way to Stanford to visit. I didn't know how I was going to cope over the weekend on my own without classes to distract me."

"Didn't your roommates stay?"

"Alia and Sophia stayed but they are really not much more than acquaintances yet. They have the potential to become great friend though I don't know that they will if they're all living together next year and I'm off campus. None of them will be in any of my classes anyway so I'm afraid that ill end up feeling like a third wheel."

"What about the other premed students?" Taylor asked.

"I've met a couple and we have a research project to do together over the summer so we'll keep in touch but we've mostly just talked about schoolwork." Gabriella answered tiredly. "Enough about that what about you. How have you been? What's been happening here?"

"Same old same old you don't want to be bored by all that" Taylor said briskly.

Gabriella interrupted before Taylor could ask another question. "This is exactly what I was afraid of before I left Tay. You promised you wouldn't do this to me" Gabriella said sadly.

"Do what?" Taylor asked confused.

"Shut me out of what's going on in your life because I'm not here all the time" Gabriella stated glaring at her friend.

"I'm not!" Taylor retorted.

"Well what would you call it. I ask about your life and you change the subject"

"That's because nothing has happened here since I rang last week. Classes are wrapping up so we haven't really learnt anything new. You know about what I've been doing with the prom committee and the yearbook. What else is there to say?"

Gabriella shook her head and pulled out her phone to call Troy.

"Hello Mrs Bolton are you ready to be picked up?" Troy asked a little surprised. "Chad's just arrived. He said the two of you wanted time to talk."

"Taylor just wants to grill me about Stanford and criticize you for coming to visit. I asked her to tell me more about what's been going in her life but she said it was too boring to talk about. She totally shut me out" Gabriella explained the problem disheartenedly.

"Okay Gabriella I'll be there in about ten minutes" Troy replied.

Taylor listened in shock, she hadn't realised how much her actions were hurting her friend even when Gabriella had told her that she was acting like the acquaintances from Gabriella's previous schools.

"Gabriella I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shut you out" she apologised trying to hug her friend. "I'm afraid I really can't tell you much about what's been going on at school though. I kind of shut myself off from everyone. I was so disappointed not to get offered an early entry. I found out on Monday that I didn't get into the summer programs at Yale like I wanted either."

"Oh Taylor" Gabriella returned the hug.

"It's just that it's hit me that next year at Yale I'm not going to be one of the smart kids. Everyone there will be at least as brainy as I am and I'm going to have to work hard just to keep up. I don't know how I'm going to compete with that."

"Taylor you're thinking of the negatives. Just think, you'll make a heap of friends that are all interested in their schoolwork. Who will be happy to discuss things with you, and who will understand that getting good grades are a high priority and sometimes plans have to be put aside to get an assignment finished. It'll be great" Gabriella said encouragingly.

"What is it like living with all these really smart people is it intimidating?" Taylor asked.

"No they're normal people too, Sophia is a boy crazy flirt who loves to shop, Casey is quiet and shy, Dana loves sports though admits she's not very well coordinated. Alia is cynical about the world. There's more to all of them than being good at school. Troy would tell you that. He fit in very well with most of them.

"Aren't you worried that you won't be able to do it all?" Taylor asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm worried about how much work college will be. How I'll keep up with everything and how competitive the other students will be. Stanford will be just as competitive as Yale and you will need really top grades to get into med school. And then you have all these extra requirements for the freshman honours program and you're going to be living off campus and have a lot more cooking and cleaning and travel and stuff, and Troy's going to want you to come to watch his Basketball games. How are you going to manage it all?"

"Troy will help with the cooking and cleaning. And being off campus will be quieter than being in the dorms" Gabriella argued. "We will make it work because it is important to both of us."

"He really does give you strength to do things doesn't he?"

Gabriella looked at Taylor waiting for her to explain.

"I've been focussed on all the ways you're different and how being married so young could hold you back. I didn't see how much his support allows you to be who you want to be. You were panicking about doing the freshman honours program and it's only three weeks. Yet you're totally calm about moving to California and living off campus and college itself because you know Troy will be there to support you. I'm sorry Gabriella."

Gabriella hugged Taylor "It's okay Taylor. I know it's hard to understand how right this is for me and Troy" she said generously. "But it's not only me you need to apologise to."

"Did Troy tell you I told him off?" Taylor asked.

"He told me what you'd said. He was concerned that you might have been a little bit correct even though he knew I was glad he came"

"He's been avoiding me"

"Yes can you blame him. I think everyone is avoiding your fights with Chad. We're all a bit worried about getting stuck in the middle. Troy wants to support his friend, especially after all the support Chad has given Troy in the last couple of weeks, but he doesn't want to put me in a position of having to choose to support you or siding with him and Chad."

"He'll be here in a minute" Taylor said sadly. "I have missed you Gabriella"

"I have missed you too. The girls in the dorm are fun but I miss having a real friend who knows all about me. We're all still in the getting to know you phase and it gets awkward at times" Gabriella replied. "I'll call Troy and tell him not to come yet."

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Kiara, CimorelliMIA, Wildcats2016 and arianne for your support.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy was weeding the flower gardens when Chad pulled up.

"Hey Chad. Whassup" he called continuing to work diligently.

"We've just finished the yearbook stuff and I thought I'd split for a while to give Taylor and Gabs time to do the girly catch-up thing. Gabs said you were being put to work so I've come to rescue you" Chad exclaimed.

Troy laughed. "Pull up a seat and let me just finish this bed and I'll get cleaned up"

"Sure" Chad said throwing himself on the grass and lying in the sun.

"How did the yearbook pages go?" Troy asked.

"Martha and I got some great shots and Gab was a real help in sorting which ones to include she has a real eye for the details. She was a bit embarrassed about the prom king and queen page" Chad said laughing.

"You guys gave us a whole page" Troy winced. "No wonder she wasn't happy"

"Nah it wasn't the whole page, just a couple of photos of the crowning and one of the two of you dancing" Chad replied shaking his head. "She said it was too much but the King and Queen usually get a whole page."

"How's Taylor. Did you guys have fun last night?" Troy asked.

Chad grinned "yeah we did" he said. "Taylor and I made a real effort not to start any arguments and we had a good time together but any fool can see it isn't going to last" he said sighing at the end.

"Do you love her Chad?" Troy asked softly.

"Not like you love Gabriella" Chad said shaking his head. "We've always had 'differences of opinion' as Taylor calls them but we used to have a lot of fun together most of the time. Now it seems we're fighting more often than not and even last night I could see several times that she wanted to tell me off about something and restrained herself because it was prom. We talked about it this morning and decided to just be friends"

"Are you okay with that?" Troy asked concerned.

Chad shrugged "Mostly" he said. "I always knew that we weren't going to do the long distance thing so we'd have broken up at the end of the summer anyway."

"Gabriella thought that knowing that you were going to break up would cause problems in your relationship" Troy commented.

"Yeah she was right. Knowing that we were going to break up soon made it harder to work through the problems we were having. It just didn't seem worth the effort" Chad agreed sadly.

"Are the two of you going to manage to be around each other all the time when we hang out as a group? It will make things really awkward if we have to invite one or the other" Troy asked.

Chad nodded his agreement. "That's why we've been trying to stay together till Taylor left for Yale. It was just too hard. I think we'll be okay though. I was over there with Gabriella and Martha this afternoon helping with the yearbook pages."

"Why'd you get involved with the yearbook, you aren't on the committee?" Troy asked.

"Their best photographers are both juniors so Taylor asked me to take some of the photos for prom" Chad explained. "She had Martha take the serious group and official photos and me take the candid shots. It was fun actually"

"And it kept you too busy to spike the punch" Troy interjected.

Chad laughed "that might have been part of her motivation" he agreed. "She never seemed to think much of my photos before."

Troy laughed as well and said "some of your photos are a bit out there. But they'll be good for Prom last year's pages were really boring all these groups of people smirking for the camera. Did you get any good shots?"

"Taylor wouldn't let me use the best ones" Chad said frowning. "But I got some great blackmail material on some of the cheerleaders" he smirked.

"I don't think I want to know" Troy said shaking his head.

"That goes double for me Chad. Unless it affects the safety or wellbeing of a student or staff member I strongly suggest you don't let me hear any more about it" Jack said loudly from nearby.

Chad jumped "Sure Coach" he said hurriedly. "Can Troy and I play some one-on-one?"

"I think that Troy's done enough gardening for one afternoon" Jack agreed. "Go enjoy yourself boys?"

"Thanks Dad" Troy said picking up his tools. He was just putting them in the shed when his phone rang.

"Hello Mrs Bolton are you ready to be picked up?" Troy asked a little surprised. "Chad's just arrived. He said the two of you wanted time to talk." He was worried that things had gone badly. Losing Taylor's friendship was one of Gabriella's biggest worries about attending the freshman honours program.

"Taylor just wants to grill me about Stanford and criticize you for coming to visit. I asked her to tell me more about what's been going in her life but she said it was too boring to talk about. She totally shut me out" Gabriella explained the problem disheartenedly.

Troy's heart sank. "Okay Gabriella I'll be there in about ten minutes" he said hoping she could hold it together until he got there.

"I've got to go" he told Chad hurrying towards his truck.

"Taylor wanted more time than this to talk to Gab" Chad argued.

"Gabriella did too Chad. They must have fought or something. She sounded really upset" Troy said climbing into the driver's seat and talking to Chad through the open window.

"I guess I'll head on home then. If Gabs upset you're going to be busy for a while" Chad said.

"Yeah! Hopefully the two of them can work things out a little in the ten minutes it's going to take me to get there" Troy said looking gratefully at his friend. "Are you cool?" he asked worried about his friend but no wanting to sound like a girl.

"Sure Troy. I'll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can round up the gang and play after Gabs plane leaves" Chad said lightly.

"Sounds like a plan" Troy agreed.

Troy drove as fast as he safely could to the McKessies' and was soon ringing their doorbell.

"Hi Troy, Taylor and Gabriella are out in the back room" Dana said letting him in.

"Hi Mrs McKessie. How are you?" Troy asked politely.

"I'm well Troy. You head on through to see the girls" she replied smiling.

Troy stood in the doorway for a moment listening to Gabriella and her best friend, trying to get a handle on the situation.

"I have missed you too. The girls in the dorm are fun but I miss having a real friend who knows all about me. We're all still in the getting to know you phase and it gets awkward at times" Gabriella replied. "I'll call Troy and tell him not to come yet."

"Too late" he said walking into the room and kissing Gabriella on the cheek. "But I'm happy to go away and come back later if you want me too?" he said looking questioningly into Gabriella's eyes.

Gabriella smiled. "Things are fine now. Can you give us another couple of hours?" she asked.

"Sure I'll ring Chad and set up a game" Troy replied kissing her other cheek as well.

"I thought he said he was going round to our place when he left here?" Gabriella said confused.

"He was talking to Dad when I left, he might still be there" Troy replied.

Taylor interrupted "I owe you an apology Troy. I was wrong about you harming Gabriella's chances at Stanford. You were right to go and visit her ad I shouldn't have given you a hard time about it."

Troy smiled "Thanks Taylor" he said quietly.

Troy dialled Chad's number as he left the house ans listened while it rang.

"Hey dude" Chad answered.

"Hey. Gabriella and Taylor have sorted things out so I'm free for another couple of hours. Are you still at my place?" Troy asked.

"No I just left. Ya wanna head over to the courts and see if we can pick up a game?" Chad offered.

"Sure. Meet you there in five" Troy replied.

They met up with a couple of the kids from the junior varsity and split up to play three-on-three for a couple of hours before Troy headed back to pick up Gabriella.

"Hello again" Dana said answering the door.

"Hi Mrs McKessie. I'm here to pick up Gabriella" Troy explained.

"They're up in Taylor's bedroom. Come on in and I'll drag them down" Dana said smiling.

Troy sat while Dana quickly ran upstairs and tapped on Taylor's door. Taylor, Troy's here to collect Gabriella" she said.

Gabriella stood up and hugged Taylor quickly. "I'd better go. I'll see you next weekend"

"Enjoy your last week at Stanford" Taylor replied leading her friend down the stairs.

"I'll try" Gabriella promised. "It's hard being away from everyone."

"Bye Taylor see you at school" Troy said taking his wife's hand.

"Goodbye Troy I'll see you Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend" Taylor said smiling.

Troy opened the door for Gabriella then lifted her into his truck. "I can get in myself you know" Gabriella protested.

"Yeah but it's more fun this way" Troy said grinning.

Gabriella slapped him lightly and he feigned hurt, "And this is how you treat the husband who loves you madly" he said teasing.

Gabriella laughed and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "All better now baby?" she asked.

Troy pulled her back out of the truck and tickled her until she shrieked before lifting her back into the truck and running around to the driver's side.

Taylor watched the two of them from her window sadly. They were so much in love. She and Chad had had that sort of playful relationship and with all her planning for the future and stressing over college she'd thrown it away.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, Ltscw, speedsONEandONLY and CimorelliMIA for your support.


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